Rising of the Dark
by Thanathos
Summary: After being betrayed in the VotE, Naruto is summoned into a new world, filled with races and creatures completely foreign. To understand this world, he joins the Light side of an ancient war. But once again, he must learn that not all is as it may seem.
1. Prologue: Leaving Terra

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

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The battle in the Valley of the End was coming to a close. The fight had been hard, bitter and merciless, starting with two normal-looking boys duking it out and had gradually turned into a clash of demons, one gray with giant hands growing out of his back, the other one covered in a cloak of demonic energy which took a shape somewhere between a fox and a man.

Neither Naruto nor Sasuke would last much longer, and both knew it. So, without a single word needing to be spoken, they both charged their strongest attack, before rushing at each other, intending to end it, once and for all.

"_CHIDORI!_" Sasuke cried out.

"_RASENGAN!_" Naruto echoed his cry.

The attacks clashed, with a result nobody could have expected or reproduced. At first the powers seemed to be fighting for dominance, but then they merged together, forming what an outsider would have described as a purple orb of destruction that steadily grew.

Inside the orb, Naruto and Sasuke were suddenly floating in empty space. For a timeless second, both were simply too baffled to do anything, but then they realized that now would probably be their last exchange of blows, before whatever the hell was going on decided to end their lives.

Naruto's first thought was to aim at Sasuke's headband, just to prove that he in fact _could_ scratch the arrogant asshole's forehead, but then he realized that he probably only had one shot, and that Sasuke was not likely to pull any punches, so he instead balled his hand to a fist and slammed it into the point where Sasuke's chest met his abdomen.

Sasuke had his hand flat, intending to pierce, but ready to form a fist should it not be possible. He aimed at Naruto's guts, and felt his fingers easily slip through his former best friend's flesh. However, Naruto had been just a tick faster, so instead of the knuckles, his fingers only sank in enough to leave only the last joint visible.

When the commotion died down, both were lying on the ground. Slowly, one figure stood up and dragged itself to the other one.

"Told you I would bring you back, even if I had to break all of your bones, teme." Naruto said, grinning despite his injuries.

"Dobe...!" Sasuke growled.

Naruto smiled. "Let's get you home, teme." Naruto muttered, before crouching down to pick up his traitorous teammate, when he noticed a blur to his left. He managed to raise his arms before a sandal-clad foot could hit his skull, but he was still knocked back, landing in water. He quickly grabbed a rock to prevent being swept away, before looking at his attacker, expecting Orochimaru, or at least Kabuto. He found Kakashi.

"Wha...?" He muttered.

"_**Kakashi, what are you doing?"**_ Pakkun demanded, upset with his master. Instead of answering, Kakashi shook him off his shoulder and gave him a blow, just strong enough to dispel the summon.

Even Sasuke was shocked. "Why?" he asked.

Kakashi's eye never left Naruto. "I've tried to hold it in, but it was not an option. Because of you I lost my sensei, and Rin, who died in your attack, demon!"

Naruto's gaze grew cold. "I see." Contrary to belief, he was not an idiot. Starved for attention yes, but not an idiot. He knew that he was a scapegoat for many, although he had not expected his so-called sensei to be one of them. 'Then again, why am I surprised? He never taught me anything, and the one time I really would have needed him, he pawned me off to someone who a few months prior had hated my guts. He probably hoped Neji would kill me.' He was incredibly disappointed.

Kakashi walked until he was in front of him. "Go back to hell demon."

Naruto remained silent, but in his mind, he granted a request. His eyes turned crimson, and his pupils became slits. _**"What do you know of hell, mortal?"**_

Kakashi sneered. "So the demon shows his true colors."

Kyuubi shook Naruto's head. _**"Not at all. My host simply does not talk to things lower than trash."**_

Kakashi twitched at having one of his sayings thrown into his face, but quickly regained his calm. "You are not my comrade, demon! Return to whatever hell you spawned from and leave us alone!"

Kyuubi laughed. _**"You have no idea what you are talking about. You know nothing of hell, but you will. After all, its lowest level is reserved for traitors."**_

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "I have not betrayed anyone." He declared.

Kyuubi's smile widened. _**"Do you want to hear a secret?"**_

Kakashi didn't trust the demon. "What?"

Kyuubi looked at him. _**"When a human who is not destined for hell dies, he normally immediately passes on. However, there are many who choose to wait, to watch over one or more loved ones and wait until they die so that they can pass on together. A spirit that has made this decision will stick with it as long as possible, meaning that the only way to lose such company would be to do something that makes their wait pointless, namely doing something that damns you to hell, which makes reuniting impossible. You have three spirits waiting for you, I can see them right now."**_

Kakashi stared. "And who would be waiting for me?" He asked.

Kyuubi shrugged. _**"I do not know them. One is an older man with short white hair, one is a woman with brown hair and purple squares on her cheeks, and the last one is a black-haired boy with broken goggles and only one eye."**_ When Kyuubi saw Kakashi's shocked expression, he laughed. _**"It seems you recognize them. Do you know why I'm telling you this?"**_ Kyuubi's expression was evil glee. _**"Because they are turning away from you! They have forsaken you! If you do not accept this, then never sleep again, for your next dream will be their final message to you. Perhaps I can come visit you when you die, although that level was always too cold for my liking."**_

"Y-you lie!" Kakashi shouted out.

Kyuubi laughed. _**"Your next dream will shatter that hope. And before I leave this body to die and be reborn in hell..."**_ One hand was lifted from grabbing the rock and slowly rose, the index-finger extended as if to point accusingly at the traitor. Slowly, a small amount of youki gathered.

Kakashi stared at the display, before jumping back as the youki jumped off Naruto's finger and slammed into his face, without doing anything. "What did you do, demon?"

Kyuubi once again let Naruto's face smile an evil smile. _**"You'll see."**_ With that, he let go of the rock, the current carrying him away immediately.

Kakashi pondered following him, but he deemed Sasuke more important, and lifted the young Uchiha up. "Time to return home, Sasuke." He muttered as he carried him back towards Konoha.

The black-haired boy didn't answer. He stared at the river that had swept away his hope of becoming Itachi's equal. Without the Mangekyo, he was too weak to take on his brother, and now he was brought back to the village that had already proven that it couldn't give him the strength to beat Itachi. For that, Sasuke needed Orochimaru.

-0-

Sakura walked up and down in front of Konoha's hospital. She had seen Chouji, Neji and Kiba being carried past her on a stretcher, Shikamaru, Lee and the Sand-siblings having the strength to walk by themselves. The latter were also around, patiently waiting for the last member of the recovery-team to arrive. She had wanted to wait at the gate, but Ino had convinced her that they would be here anyways, and at least one of them would be injured in the struggle, not to mention that Sasuke would probably need to be checked out, so they had set up camp here.

Tsunade stepped out of the hospital, waiting. She had worked miracles, but all members of the squad were going to live. Shizune was taking care of the rest. Now, she just wanted to see Naruto.

Finally, Kakashi appeared before them, Sasuke on his back. Suddenly there was life in the scenery. The last Uchiha was put in chakra-cuffs, then on a stretcher to get his worst injuries healed. Tsunade looked at the Copy-nin.

"Where is Naruto?" She asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade stumbled back, hand covering her mouth. No, not again. She steeled herself, then she extended her hand, waiting for the scroll that contained his body.

Kakashi sighed. "When I arrived, I found Sasuke barely conscious, but the only trace of Naruto was a large smear of blood leading to the river. There was no trace of his body, and I decided that completing the mission had a higher priority, as I didn't want to risk one of Orochimaru's men to arrive and take Sasuke while I was searching the river."

Tsunade nodded, tears welling in her eyes.

"_Sabaku Kyuu!_" Before anyone had time to blink, Kakashi was wrapped up in sand. Up to his chest he was completely encased, though his head and lower arms were still free.

Tsunade stared at the display. "What is the meaning of this?" She demanded.

Gaara looked at his prisoner. "You lie."

Kakashi's eye widened. How could he know? Tsunade was also confused. "What do you mean, Gaara?"

Gaara's stare was cold as ice. "I do not know what happened, but he definitely encountered Naruto before he left with Sasuke."

Kakashi stared. "Wrong! On what basis do you make this ridiculous accusa-aargh?" The pressure had increased.

Gaara looked at him with disgust. "Bijuu can see things that mortals cannot. As a result of that, jinchuuriki can see things that normal humans can't. You don't know it's there, but I can see the sign of your treachery as clearly as if it were branded into your flesh."

Reflexively, Kakashi's hand shot to his forehead. So that was it, the damned demon had marked him with something that he couldn't see, but was clearly visible to others of its kind. Gaara's eyes narrowed. "So you know where it is."

Tsunade's brow twitched. "What is going on here?"

Gaara raised a single finger, and the Ichibi's chakra flickered on it. "We jinchuuriki have the ability to place marks invisible to normal humans. It was originally used by the bijuu to mark things like property or enemies that escaped. Kakashi has such a mark on his head, and Shushaku tells me that it was made by the Kyuubi. I know he has not had that mark in the chunin-exams, and since I doubt he has had contact with other jinchuuriki, I have no reason to doubt Shushaku's word. To those that can read it, the mark on Kakashi spells 'TRAITOR'. Naruto did not know that I was here, but that mark would sooner or later be noticed."

Tsunade stared. Then, slowly, she turned at Kakashi, her eyes burning with an ominous fire. "Kakashi, lying to the Hokage is a major offense. I will ask you one more time, where is Naruto?"

Kakashi mentally swore. And things had been going so well! The rain would have washed away the blood Kakashi had mentioned, and all scents were long since washed off his foot, so his story had been perfect. But that demon had branded him with something that was now bringing the truth to light. Still, the boy was known to be slightly insane, so maybe he could discredit him and get out of this. "I have no idea what that insane boy is talking about? I have done no wrong, and do you really take the word of a child driven to madness by its prisoner over mine?"

Tsunade's look flickered, before she seemed to make a decision. She turned to Ino. "Call your father, I have need for his service. Tell him to wait in my office." Ino nodded and ran off, her father should be home by now. Then she turned to Gaara. "If this is some sort of joke, there will be consequences."

Gaara nodded. "I have nothing to fear."

Kakashi on the other hand had paled remarkably.

Tsunade nodded. "We will take this elsewhere, this place it too public."

-0-

Inoichi bowed before his leader. "What can I do for you, Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade nodded to the imprisoned Kakashi. "Certain discrepancies have come up with a report given by Kakashi Hatake. I'd like you to take a look, and report your findings to me."

Inoichi nodded and turned to Kakashi, who seemed to try to squirm his way out of the sand-coffin, a futile effort. "Kakashi, with you squirming like that, one could think that you have something to hide." With that, he placed his palm on Kakashi's head.

A few seconds later, he pulled it back. He had learned of Kakashi's actions, of Kyuubi's words, and of the dark mind Kakashi possessed. "I will give a detailed written report later, but the summary would be that Gaara has spoken the truth. Kakashi has attacked his student, throwing him into the river, and did nothing as he was swept away."

Gaara seemed completely calm. "Hokage-sama, I request permission to complete my technique." Everybody knew what that would mean, Kiba being quite the gossip when he wanted to.

Tsunade sighed. "Tempting as it is, I'm afraid that there would be a lot of political upheaval if I allowed an outsider to perform an execution. No Gaara, I'm afraid you have to release him into the comforts of a Konoha holding-cell, after we cuff him, of course. I'll _personally_ deal with him later."

Gaara waited until Kakashi was secured before releasing the man. He nodded towards Tsunade. "I know that it is not your fault, but you will soon have to deal with a lot of political upheaval in any case. My siblings and I will return to to Suna now Hokage-sama, by your leave?"

Tsunade nodded, not entirely focused. "What? Oh yes, have a safe journey." She knew that the news of what happened here would be spread, and that the next days would be, to use the words of the male half of the Nara-clan, troublesome.

-0-

And she was right. Most of the village celebrated when they heard that the demon was gone, the old law about keeping Naruto's state secret being broken, seeing that with the boy in question most likely dead. While the what was now the Rookie 7 plus Team Guy and a few selective others were upset, the general opinion was 'Goodbye and good riddance.' At least until the news leaked out to other nations...

The only other noteworthy event was that a week after the retrieval-mission, Sasuke, who had been let off with a slap to the wrist by claiming that the Cursed Seal had controlled him, escaped Konoha and defected to Oto, using his new Level 2-form to glide and on some parts fly from high elevation unnoticed.

The last thing of that deserves a look at the moment is the first dream Kakashi Hatake had after his confinement.

-0-

_Kakashi looked around. Everything was dark and foggy. "Where am I?" He called out. Then, three figures appeared before him. Three figures that had all died years ago. "Rin? Obito? Father? Impossible."_

_The three figures looked at him, their eyes filled with disappointment. His father spoke first. "I had prioritized my comrades above the mission, and all blamed me for it. Even though now I know that I did no wrong, I had wanted to see you again, and talk. But now I see the futility of that act." He turned away._

_Rin looked at him. "I cared for you Kakashi, I really did. But you are not the Kakashi I knew. The Kakashi I knew would have never abandoned a comrade like that. I wanted to pass on with you, but now there is no point. You and I are going to different places. This will be the last time we ever see each other. I really wanted to spend eternity with you. Goodbye Kakashi."_

_Obito looked at him. "I don't understand Kakashi, why did you do it? You betrayed your comrades, you betrayed us all. Did I die in vain? Was the message that I gave you really that unimportant? I gave you my eye so that you could protect your comrades, but you choose to attack and leave them behind? And sensei's legacy, his son of all people? I'm sorry Kakashi, but I cannot condone what you have done." He smiled sadly. "I really had looked forward to spending some time with you and my other comrades. We're going to heaven now Kakashi, it's a real shame that you won't join us. You've made your choices, now you have to live with them. For what its worth, I enjoyed our time together. Farewell." With that, all three figures faded into the mist._

_Kakashi clawed the air. "Father, Obito, Rin, wait! Where are you going?"_

"_To a place you will never see" Came the sad reply._

Kakashi shot up in his cell, soaked in sweat and out of breath. What a horrible nightmare. This was the demon's fault, he had given him this dream! But why had Obito called Naruto sensei's son? Sensei had no son, he had not even had a girlfriend! There was that Uzumaki-woman, but that never... Uzumaki! How had he not seen that? Naruto shared the last name with that woman! She was the only Uzumaki in Konoha, so she had to be his mother. But he looked nothing like her, which meant he had to have inherited his father's looks. Come to think of it, he looked a lot like... oh no. No! It couldn't be!

-0-

But what happened to Naruto?

After loosing his grip on the rock, he drifted through the water, weak and wounded, while Kyuubi tried to heal his injuries. But when Kyuubi already presumed the battle lost, it felt a tug.

"_**What the..." **_Kyuubi muttered, recognizing the feeling. _**"A summoning? But nobody in this world can summon... So from another world. But who could dare summoning something of my power? And how can he summon me when I'm sealed?"**_

Pondering the situation, Kyuubi figured that it probably could resist the summon, but why should it? It wasn't like its situation could get much worse. And he had been to a few other worlds in his time. There weren't many, but since they all shared the same heaven and hell, a demon could travel between them with little problem. Also, it was one of the most powerful demons in existence, and there were only few things besides sealing into a human that could phase it, and the only world that knew how to do that was the one it was in right now. Who knew, perhaps it would finally be freed from the human if it followed the call across the worlds. So it gave up all resistance to the call, and embraced it.

Any outsider observing Naruto would see that the boy suddenly glowed, turned into glittering dust, and vanished.

* * *

Chapter 1 is done. Another new story. I've recently developed a liking for stories that work like my favorite computer-games, namely that the battle is done by armies, rather than one single individual, not that those stories aren't good too. Will start a little slow, I'm new to this genre.

And I'm going with that overused twist that Naruto was wearing a figurative mask, and is much smarter and better in physical combat than he shown. Unlike many others, I won't have Naruto suddenly drop the mask and chew out all who wronged him. No, Naruto will decide in the new world that now that he has a blank slate, he will give all who meet him a different impression than that of a loud idiot.

This story will have a few elements in common with MadHat886's The Fox Lord, although I can promise that I am not copying any lines. I merely intend to use the basic layout, namely that Naruto will be pulled into a different world, which I will call Gaia, while Naruto's world is Terra, simple, but it gets the point across. There will be more of course, but I decided not to spoil everything. And yes, I asked MadHat886 for his permission, and got it. I also intend to bring a number of 'Lord of the Rings'- and original-elements into this, mainly those I find badass.

While I have the Light Races pretty much all figured out, as there will only be few races, but those in great number, the Dark Races are still fairly open, so I will take suggestions into consideration, since the Dark Races have more races, but less numbers.

As for magic, I will describe it when it actually makes a real appearance, probably Chapter 3 or 4.

Opinions please. Should I continue this story?

And one more thing, I put up an important notice in my profile, read it. I apologize in advance, but the matter is out of my hands.

Well, I think this is all for now, so

Please Review


	2. Summoned!

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

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The Kyuubi had seen and experienced much in its countless millenniums of existence. It had been to different worlds, seen things that no mortal could ever hope to comprehend, learned magics so ancient that no other being even knew they existed, although it rarely relied upon such tricks, it had been summoned many times, it had even experienced being sealed into a human on multiple occasions. However, it had never, not in all its years, even heard of any demon being summoned while sealed in a living being. So it had no way of knowing what would happen. It expected to either be free, or that the summoning would call upon its host as well, leaving it stuck in him for a little while longer. It was wrong.

The summoning did indeed also swipe Naruto away, but not as a single being, but broken up into tiny particles, which also broke up the seal and Kyuubi into individual particles. But with the seal broken in such a fashion, it was impossible to simply return to how it was before. Instead, the two beings merged in that odd phenomenon that was interdimensional travel. They became one being, with both minds struggling to be the controlling mind, struggling to not be reduced to a databank for the other. While normally the demon would be the hands-down winner in such a struggle, the remaining energies of the seal suppressed its will, making Naruto's being the superior in the merge. Since Naruto was also the more ignorant one of the two, he would need time to go through his knowledge before he would even realize that something had changed from before.

-0-

In a different world, a man that went by the name of Marius was sitting in front of a pentagram. He was nervous. Of course, summoning a demon made one nervous, especially for someone like him, who fought all evil beings with all his heart, but to defeat some of the dark magics of the evil beings, one needed a weapon that possessed a demon's essence, meaning that a demon had to be sacrificed to forge one of the blades of his order, the Order of the Equitatus Magicus. Of course one could argue that their own magic, or even the sacred purer magic of the Order of the Paladins would be enough to break all evil magic, but some magics were nearly impossible to break with White Magic, at the cost of being very easy to smash with the Dark Blades their Order forged. Marius was one of their strongest and highest ranked knights, and their best smith, but even he was frightened. The ceremony that he was enacting now was meant to call upon beings whose power was far beyond what his order usually summoned for their blades. Of course the entire room was filled with the incense of plants that demons feared, and plastered in symbols that weakened them, but still it was dangerous. If Marius succeeded, then he would have forged a magical weapon, a halberd to be precise, that would be equal to some of the weapons of legend, or at least far more powerful than anything that his order had made in many centuries. However, if he failed, or worse, if he failed and the demon escaped...

A loud bang interrupted his thoughts. Marius looked at the pentagram, expecting some sign of a powerful creature struggling with the powerful bindings that would latch themselves on every demon in its circle, and worryingly wondering why the hallowed water hadn't started raining down yet like it had every other time when a demon was summoned, and was a bit befuddled at what he saw. Instead of a powerful demon, he saw a blond boy lying in the circle, soaking wet, bleeding, and apparently unconscious.

At first he suspected a deceit, that the demon had taken such a form to lure him into making a mistake, like entering the circle, but then he realized that none of the traps reacting to the presence of a demon had gone off yet. Still, he pulled out a phial of hallowed water and splashed its content at the body. If it was a demon, the water would have some effect, even if it simply evaporated from the demon's power.

Nothing. Slowly and carefully he approached, a non-essence-dagger forged of holy steel in hand, to look at his finding. Gathering all his courage, he stepped into the pentagram, half-expecting the boy to jump up and attack him. But the body showed no indication of even noticing his presence. The boy was lying on his stomach, so Marius flipped him over with his foot. He saw that it was indeed a boy, perhaps around fourteen, the age at which one could be considered a man, with scars or marks in his face that reminded of whiskers. His fingernails were pointed, and his clothing was hideously bright, the type that no warrior would ever consider wearing, it was both too easy to spot and too ugly. He checked for injuries, and found some halfway healed wounds that must have been severe, and many scars.

Marius rushed up a set of stairs, knocked on the locked door, and told one of those that had stood guard to take someone to the infirmary and get him quill, parchment and a messenger-bird to the Order of the Paladins. There were certain protocols to be obeyed, after all.

-0-

Saladin frowned as he read the letter sent by General Marius. This was worrying. They had tried out a ritual used for summoning a demon of a higher level for more power, a reconstructed ceremony, as some of the instructions had faded from the parchment, and they weren't sure exactly what they had called, only that it looked human and was injured. While the Equitatus Magicus did good work and had knowledge of demons, they lacked the instincts and means that his paladins possessed. This boy would have to be studied before he could be allowed to freely walk around. If the results were not satisfying, then he would be killed before any harm could be done, simple as that.

He called for his secretary. "Fredrick, do we have anyone close to the headquarters of the Equitatus Magicus?"

Fredrick frowned. The gnomes had excellent memory, which was the reason why they were so popular as secretaries and overseers, so it did not take him long to recall the needed information. "None of our seniors Father, but there is one. A gifted elf adept, talented with both magic and weapon, that should be only a few miles away. Shall I send Sister Celia new orders?"

The half-elf frowned. "This needs to be investigated immediately, but I would prefer a more experienced senior would do so. Still, give her orders to head to the Order of the Equitatus Magicus. She is to study the result of a seemingly botched-up summoning to determine if it is a threat. A more experienced member of our Order will join her for a second opinion, but this matter calls for haste."

The Gnome bowed. "It shall be done, Father. I will also send notice to Brother Mobius, as he is the closest senior present."

Saladin nodded. Mobius was experienced, but more importantly, he was elven nobility, meaning that the adept would not see it as an attack on her integrity if he reached a different conclusion, which would be the one they followed.

With the complete extermination of the evil races only a matter of time, politics were getting vicious, and not only between different races. Back in their days of founding, the Order of the Paladins and the Order of the Equitatus Magicus had been close allies that practically always worked together. Now the two Orders had become something similar to rivals, with Paladins disliking the summoning of demons, while the Knights argued that every blade meant that there was one less demon that could cause problems. While the seniors of both Orders always remained professional, there was a certain dislike that popped up whenever they weren't fighting a common enemy, namely the evil races or the gremlins. And a brawl between the younger members were almost a daily occurrence. Truth be told, fights with the other Order were getting more common than fights with any official enemy.

"Do so Fredrick, I want this over with quickly. We are sending our members into the lion's den, and the longer it takes, the more likely it is that something happens."

-0-

Naruto groaned. What happened to him? The last thing he remembered was floating in the river, and the soft thing beneath him definitely wasn't water. He slowly opened his eyes. The room was fairly well lit, that was the first thing he noticed. A girl in shiny heavy armor was sitting next to his bed, looking at him warily. She was probably fifteen or sixteen, with pale skin, blue eyes and long blond hair. On the other side of his bed he saw a really small man with a thick red beard that seemed to reach his knees dressed in less shiny armor. Said man was also pointing a spear at his chest. Naruto frowned.

"This is either really good or really bad, I haven't quite decided which."

The girl raised a brow. "You can talk."

"So can you, what a surprise." Naruto shot back. While he wasn't normally like this, being stabbed in the back by one of the few people he had actually somewhat trusted had left his mark on him. Nice and cheery obviously wasn't meant for every occasion, so he'd be snippy until they showed that they should be treated differently, whether that meant better or worse was up to them.

The bearded midget broke into cackles at Naruto's retort while the girl blushed slightly, before glaring at the small man.

Naruto looked at the two. From their behavior, they were obviously not friends. He tried a slightly more polite approach. After all, they had the weapons. He could feel that his holsters were not there, and neither was his jumpsuit, not that it would be that big a loss. He liked orange, but the reason he wore that things was because the shops didn't sell him anything different. "So, you two were, what, guarding me?"

The girl's lip twitched upwards, before she almost hastily nodded her head. "Oh yes, he especially. Dwarves are great watchers. After all, what other being could take station under a bed without even having to crouch?" She gave her partner a triumphant smirk.

Now the midget, or dwarf, jumped up "How dare ye? Ye should watch yer back."

She raised a brow. "With you after me Hagwin, I'd be better advised to watch my knees."

It was kinda funny to see the little man become as red as his beard. "Ye insolent..."

But with the nodding of her head and her looking at the dwarf and not him, Naruto noticed something he had missed before. "What's wrong with your ears? They're... pointy."

The girl turned her attention back to him. "What, you've never seen an elf before?" She snapped, before apparently realizing how she was acting, and quickly tried to get back into a position that made her look noble and distant.

Naruto shrugged. "Honestly speaking? No. What is a elf?"

Now both stared at him. The bearded man spoke, his tone wary. "Tell me lad, have ye ever heard of the noble race of dwarves?"

Naruto shook his head. "Sorry, no. Wait, you're telling me you two are not human?"

The elf looked at him. "Of course not! Which rock did you crawl from to think that?" Her own question seemed to remind her of something, as she pointed her palm at Naruto and mumbled a few words that made no sense to him.

Then he had to shield his eyes from the bright light that erupted out of her palm. "Hey! What's the big idea?" He called, not happy with the situation. "Turn that off or point it somewhere else! It's bright!"

She did as he suggested, moving her palm so that, for a single second, the light was blinding Hagwin, before letting it dribble out. Then she curiously looked at him.

"No seared flesh, no irritated skin, not even the hair is torched, well, I guess my first estimation would be that he's not a demon." She turned to Hagwin, ignoring the dwarf's angry glares. "You said that you did some tests?"

Reluctantly, the dwarf nodded. "Aye. Nothing dramatic, just the usual. Hallowed water, incense, that sort of thing."

Naruto looked at the two. "What made you think I am a demon?" He asked. "And why do you two argue so much?"

"Simple. They are not only Knight and Paladin, but also dwarf and elf. Whoever decided to put those two together obviously had a nasty sense of humor."

All three heads turned. Leaning against the entrance of the infirmary was a young man around twenty. His ears were round and he was almost six feet tall, so Naruto guessed he was a human. His armor was similar to that the dwarf was wearing, not as shiny as the elf's.

Naruto looked at him. "I don't really get it, but who are you? On that matter, where am I?"

Hagwin's chest experienced a slight swelling as pride filled his voice. "Boy, ye are in the headquarters of the old and noble Order of the Equitatus Magicus."

Naruto frowned. Geography and history were not his strongest points, though at least the former he had studied intently, so that he wouldn't get lost on missions. "Is that far from Hi no Kuni?"

Surprised silence answered him. "Hinowhat?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Hi no Kuni. The Country of Fire. Where Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves is located? On that note, where is my stuff?"

The three armored ones exchanged glances. Country of Fire, that sounded awfully like a place in hell, but how did a 'village hidden in the leaves' fit into that? After all, what kind of tree could grow in a country of flames? In the end, the elf spoke. "None of us have ever heard of such a country. And how can a village be hidden in leaves in a country of fire?"

Naruto stared at her with a blank face. "You have never heard of the elemental continent? And Hi no Kuni isn't really made of flames, that's just a name! Or do you think that Kaminari no Kuni, Country of Lightning, is made of lightnings? Hi no Kuni consists mostly of forest. I think Iruka-sensei mentioned once that the country was originally called that because of the great forest-fires that would occasionally start in the hot and dry summers. A country of fire, where do you think I'm from, hell?"

The tense silence gave him all the answers he needed. "You're not serious. You think I'm from _hell_?"

Hagwin spoke first. "Well, ye did show up as a result of a ceremony intended to call a demon."

The elf snorted. "A ceremony pieced together from fragments of parchment with ink that has practically faded away already. I'm surprised you got anything out of that ceremony."

Naruto slowly began to connect the dots. 'A summoning. I showed up when the tried to summon a demon. And none of them has ever heard of the elemental continent. Shit.' He sighed. "I'm not in my world anymore, am I?"

Now all three stared at him. None of them had heard anything about other worlds, aside from hell, heaven, and the realm of the gods. Then the elf frowned. "I do remember my father mentioning something called parallel worlds, but I do not know any details. But just because we have not heard of your country does not mean that it is not here. The ocean is vast, and little beyond our own continent is discovered. It is entirely possible that you are simply from a larger island somewhere beyond the horizon, although I doubt it. The gods' work of creation was focused on this continent, but perhaps you are descended of a team of explorers."

The man spoke up, the joy gone from his voice. "Or perhaps you are a demon from hell that is trying to trick us."

Naruto noted the hostility in the older boy's voice. "Yes, and perhaps your head serves only as a decoration." He shot back.

Even the dwarf was amused. Naruto took a deep breath. "I think we skipped the introductions. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I am a genin of Konoha, pleased to meet you all. Feel free to call me Naruto." He had manners. Granted, he rarely used them, but he had manners.

The elf nodded reluctantly, not really wanting to give away her name, but since Naruto had given his, manners demanded she do the same. "I am Celia, a Paladin from the noble elven house of Lightwood."

The dwarf nodded. "I am Hagwin, son of Helmir, a member of the proud race of the dwarves, currently in the service of the Equitatus Magicus."

The human boy shrugged. "My introduction is the most boring then. My name is Evan, son of Simon, heir to the title of Baron of the Shefflefields, and like Hagwin, I am a member of the noble Order of the Equitatus Magicus."

Naruto sighed. "So for how long will I be strapped to this bed, and once again, where is my stuff?"

Celia looked at him, her eyes cold. "You will remain confined until Brother Mobius has arrived and deemed you safe to be around. If he declares you safe, then we will see. If not, then you will die." With that, all three seemed to prepare for an assault.

When no attack came, Evan relaxed slightly. "As for your garb, it was searched, emptied of all objects that might be of some use, and then burned."

Now Naruto reacted. "What? You burned my stuff? I'm expecting a replacement, you know that, right?"

Now the coldness returned to Evan's eyes. "If you pass the test, we'll consider it."

Naruto looked at him. "What makes you think I wouldn't pass?"

Evan looked at him. "I don't trust things with slitted eyes." He stated, before turning around to leave.

Naruto looked at Celia and Hagwin. "Do you have a mirror?" He asked.

Hagwin nodded and handed him a polished plate of bronze. Naruto stared into it. He was different. For one thing, he looked older, more like fifteen than twelve. His hair was still blond, but longer and more ruffled, although that may have been the fault of the bed. What definitely wasn't the bed's fault was the fact that his pupils were now slitted like a cat's and his irises were practically glowing in a royal purple. He had lost his baby-fat, and when his eyes wandered down his body, he noticed that he was more rippled than before, and that his fingernails were now thicker and pointed, almost like claws. His whiskers were still there, but they were a bit thicker, triangular rather than lines, and still somehow faded, barely contrasting with the tone of his skin. Finally, he regained his voice. "What did you do to me in that summoning?"

-0-

Three days later, Mobius arrived. He was a tall elf, standing at 6,4 foot tall. His blond hair was long like Celia's, but instead of letting it flow freely, he had it pulled into a ponytail. His left eye was green, his right one was missing, having been taken by a piece of shrapnel resulting from the missed a blow of a troll's club. A lucky hit, but the loss of his eye had not hampered Mobius's combat-abilities in any way. Quite the opposite, he was one of the most feared members of their Order, as he fought like a demon and according to rumors could sense attacks from any direction.

Mobius did very little to contradict these rumors, as they made him more mysterious and frightening to the enemy, and an enemy that already thinks he'll loose is less likely to win. Still, the boy that he had examined was confusing, to say the least.

General Marius was sitting on the opposite side of the table, flanked by Hagwin and Evan, while Celia had taken point at Mobius's right. The general spoke first. "So Father Mobius," Marius used the title as a sign of respect "what can you tell us about the being in our infirmary?"

Mobius straitened up. "Well, the first analysis seem to confirm the assessments made by both yourself and Sister Celia. The boy shows no indication of being troubled by White Magic any more than a normal human would, and he is as immune to hallowed objects as any human. I've had him drink hallowed water to see if it was merely a protection on his skin, but there was no ill effect. I do not believe that the boy is a demon."

Marius nodded, secretly relieved. Had the boy really been a powerful demon, then he might have escaped, which could have brought calamity on their world. He did not want to be the one to be known as the fool who opened the gates of hell. "So, any guesses on what he is?"

Mobius shrugged. "At first look he seems to be human, as he is clearly neither elf, dwarf, halfling, or gnome. However, there are a few features that I can't place. His fingernails are claws, hard and sharp enough to at least tear through leather armor effortlessly, I currently lack the means to test how hard exactly they are. His eyes are slanted, and I suspect that his vision and other senses are sharper than a normal human's. I can't make any assessments about his physical capabilities, but his body seems to be build for speed and agility rather than brute force. Honestly, I have no idea what he is, as in my 6329 years, I have never seen anything like him, nor have I heard of a species like his. He does not belong to any of the evil races, though we would have to wait another week until full moon to determine if he's a shape-shifter. But what really unsettles me about him is that he has an incredible amount of mana stored inside his body."

The others stared. Mana, or raw magic, was a force that filled the world. Those with talents in magecraft could gather it, forge it into focused magic and use it to weave spells. However, the body of a living being could, at best, only store minor amounts of magic, all higher magics needed a medium to keep it, whether that was an object, a tattoo or a sacrifice was unimportant, but something to store the magic was needed for anything more complex than throwing a head-sized ball of an element, mostly fire or lightning. The Equitatus Magicus used different talismans to gather the needed magic, as the Dark Blades would automatically transform the mana into Demon Magic, which could not be wielded by non-demons, while Paladins used their crystal-hammers to gather and store the large amount of mana needed for their more advanced spells, already formed to White Magic in the weapon. But for someone to store great amounts in his body...

"How much mana do you estimate he stores?" Marius asked.

Mobius sighed. "Let's assume the boy learns how to share his mana and lets me use it to my heart's content. I could cast all of my most powerful spells one after the other, and you would still have enough for General Marius here to unleash an elemental Armageddon. Or to put it differently, if you gathered ten mages and they used his reserves for nothing but simple fireballs, you could continuously cast for at least a year before he'd have to recharge, assuming that the reserves don't recover in the meantime."

The three Knights and Celia could not believe their ears. There was no way that a single living being could hold that much power. But Mobius had yet to drop the final bombshell. "And the part that, honestly spoken, worries me, is that when I asked him about how he stored that much mana in him, he was baffled, before asking if I was referring to his chakra, and that chakra wasn't stored, but produced inside the body. If this is true, and I believe it is, seeing that I could feel it seeping from him, then the boy can produce mana."

This was too much. The concept of a living being actually producing mana was completely foreign and unrealistic, as all beings capable of magic consumed mana rather than creating it.

"If this is true..." Evan muttered, more to himself. Technically it was an offense for him to enter a conversation of those who outranked him, but nobody bothered to scold him, as everyone was still trying to wrap their mind around the idea of such a being existing.

Marius sighed. "Well, while that is fascinating, it does not answer the question we are here to discuss. What are we going to do with the boy?"

* * *

Chapter 2 is done. I'll see if I can get the third chapter up by tomorrow, but I don't think so. I have a job interview on Monday, for pilot no less, and it's really making me nervous. Wish me luck, I'll need it.

And the reason I said drafted is because in Germany, all male citizens are required by law to serve in the military for nine months, though six are in discussion. They can't send you anywhere of course, but you still have to do it.

To those that are wondering, Equitatus Magicus is Latin, and simply means 'magical knights'. The knights do have more than their blades, they use different talismans crafted into their armor or worn as jewelry to store the magic they need for their incantations. The Dark Blades are mainly for breaking barriers, and another thing that I'll explain later. Another piece of trivia, while there are elven knights, the high-elves look down on the knights because of their summoning of demons, and join the Paladins. Both Mobius and Celia are high-elves.

As for Hagwin, I can't help thinking him, and dwarves in general, speaking with a Irish/Scottish accent, but as a German, I'm not good at writing accents of the English language, so I have to ask you to imagine the accent.

And the world Naruto is sent to is a world by my invention. It has elements from Warcraft and Lord of the Rings, and probably some other things too, but it is essentially a world designed by me, so there are no books or games that could give anything away.

On that note, there was a request for specifications for what races you could suggest. You can suggest anything, from animals to intelligent beings. They can be large or small, plant-based, brilliant or simple-minded, live in water, air, or on the ground. The only restriction is no god-like characters. No monsters so overpowered that they would crush the world, or if you do suggest something like that, then as an individual, not a race. For the simple reason that if the race was invincible, then the Light Races would not be able to hunt them to extinction now, would they? Which would also disincline them from joining Naruto because... well, why should they?

I also received criticism on a few points in this first chapter. One, there was a complaint that I used the cliché VotE as a beginning. It is used often, because it's practical, but in my case, it was actually practically the only viable option. I needed Naruto in a situation where he would be weak enough not to fight off the summoning, not surrounded by a large number of people, and most importantly of all, isolated. If I had not chosen a situation where Naruto saw himself betrayed by practically everyone, before he developed a real emotional attachment to anyone, like Jiraya after the training-trip or Konoha after saving it from Pein, then Naruto would have never been able to thrive in the new world, as he would have desperately sought a way back home. The VotE was just the ideal situation, as it offered betrayal by one friend, the selfish request of one's teammate that did nothing, a prime situation for a betrayal by teacher, Naruto actually having some knowledge of combat and jutsu without making him a super-prodigy that could crush ANBU at the age of four, and leaving Konoha in a situation where Naruto would not feel the need to return and save Konoha from some threat out of some shred of loyalty. Had I chosen some point after the trip, then Naruto would have tried to return to Jiraya, Gaara and others. Had I chosen after Pein, then Naruto definitely would have tried to return to save the people who now accept him from Madara. At the point I chose, no loyalty that wasn't blown into the wind would have really solidified yet.

Last but not least, I've decided to put up information about different races when they actually appear, meaning that I'll do 4 now.

**Encyclopedia of Gaian Species**

Human  
One of the most common races of Gaia, the world Naruto stranded in. Identical to terran humans in size, appearance and life-span. Among the Light Races, they are the most fertile, and have been compared to rabbits because they can theoretically give birth every year. One out of every thousand is born with magical abilities, meaning that he or she can gather mana from their surroundings to cast spells. As a side-effect, their life-span can extend to up to 600 years. The only race capable of altering the properties of mana to both White and Black Magic, though latter has been banned and those that attempt it without permission risk execution. They are found in almost all climates and habitats.

Elf  
A race with no set life-span. While death from injury, illness, or poison is possible, not one has been known to have died from old age. An elf generally stops aging when his appearance reaches that of a human in his early twenties, though they age slower, meaning that they at that point are at least a four-hundred years old. They have the size and basic shape of a human, only that their ears are long and pointed. Because of their agelessness, they have come to see themselves as a supreme race, and as such their behavior is always to be noble and distant from others. A female elf gets her first period at eighty, when their appearance is that of a fourteen-year-old. From that point on, they are capable of giving birth once every seven years, usually one child, though twins, while rare, are not unheard of. Elves can be separated into different sub-species, like forest-elves, fire-elves, ice-elves, light-elves, which refer to themselves as high-elves, and dark elves. Latter have been declared an enemy, and a race of their own, and will be discussed at a later time. These classifications are explained both by differences in appearances and affinity to magic, fire-elves being best at casting magic related to the element fire, ice-elves are best with ice, while high-elves can utilize pure White Magic at its highest level, a feat that only select few humans can replicate. Elves usually prefer to build their cities deep in forests.

Dwarf  
The race of the dwarves consider themselves one of the first races to be created. Their average size is approximately 1 meter, or roughly 3.3 feet, and they are easily identified by their thick beards. Their build is stockier than a human's, with much more muscle that more than make up for their small height. While not ageless, a dwarf's average life-span can easily span many centuries. As a race, they are known as stubborn fighters and hefty drinkers, both facts they take pride in. They are unable to mold magic into either White or Black Magic, instead they have learned work use Raw Magic, technically classified as Neutral Magic, into their craftsmanship, being able to create nearly indestructible weapons and armor, and build structures that are almost as resilient. Dwarves live in clans, which together with their parents is their way of identifying themselves, rather than family-names. Shameful behavior can lead to being exiled from their clan, shaving of their beards, or in worst cases of being forsaken by their parents, becoming a fatherless one, the worst possible fate for a dwarf. Dwarves and elves, despite being on the same side, have a certain dislike for each other due to ancient grudges. Dwarven fertility starts with forty, and comes once every ten years. Dwarves live in subterranean cities called halls that they carve into mountains, and many spend their entire lives without ever seeing the sun.

Gnome  
Gnomes are the only light race that is smaller than the dwarves, averaging at 2.6 feet, or 80 centimeters. Their average lifespan is around 180 years, their fertility starts with 25 and comes once every two years. This race is born with talent in White Magic, although it does not even come close to that of the high-elves. Their build is light, leaning towards skeletal, and their physical strength is fittingly low. The head of a Gnome is huge compared to their body, and it holds their most valuable gift, their minds. Gnomes are masters at math, and equipped with photographic memory. They are commonly found as bankers, secretaries and librarians. Unlike the other Light Races, Gnomes prefer living with other races rather than forming their own villages, and they are mainly found in human- or mixed settlements.

Well, that's all for now,

Please Review


	3. Test

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

* * *

_Marius sighed. "Well, while that is fascinating, it does not answer the question we are here to discuss. What are we going to do with the boy?"_

-0-

Mobius scratched his chin. "For now I do not think that he poses a danger to us, but he should be kept under observation in any case. Perhaps we should test his magical affinities, that may help us decide. He may become a great asset in this war, especially if this inner mana-production is inheritable."

Marius looked up. "You suggest we breed him?"

Mobius shook his head. "Of course not. I'm merely saying that, should it turn out that his life-span is similar to that of a mundane human, then perhaps his power will not be lost to us if he does sire an heir. I could ask of nobody to force themselves on him, nor would I suggest doing something that he may not like at this point. For all we know his body might release the stored mana, and wipe everything less than four miles away off the map."

Marius nodded. "Since the boy is clueless about magic, we will give him a weak spell of White Magic and a weak spell of Black Magic, and see if he can get either to work. Low-level spells do after all form the mana themselves if the type of magic is compatible with the caster. If he doesn't know the spells, then he won't be able to see the test."

With a nod, the two leaders rose, the three younger ones already standing, and left for the infirmary.

-0-

Marius felt a twitch in his brow. Instead of the blond boy, the model of the human body that had been standing on the far wall was laying in the bed, its arms and legs strapped up tightly, as if to mock them. He calmly turned to the guards. "How is it that the boy managed to undo the restraints, leave bed, get the anatomy-model, put it in bed, restrain it, and leave without you two noticing anything?" He demanded from the two guards.

The knights, one human and one halfling, raised their hands in defense. The human spoke. "General, I can assure you that we paid attention, but since the curtains on the bed were drawn, we had no direct line of sight, and looked at the silhouette. The curtains never even shifted, nor was there a single footstep. This being must know magic, or else move as silent as an elf or halfling, as there was no indication of him even planning an escape. We thought he fell asleep when the shadow stopped moving."

The halfling nodded. "We hobbits are masters at sneaking and spotting sneakers, and I would have sworn that he was still in there. He must have used a spell, because he definitely didn't sneak out, by my honor as a Hintuckle."

Marius ground his teeth together. "I want this castle on lockdown. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out. The current watchers are elven, so there is little chance of the boy having slipped out yet. I want him caught!"

Mobius frowned. He knew that if that boy escaped and wrecked havoc, part of the blame would be placed on him and Celia, as the knights would argue, above Marius's head if need be, that his estimation had coaxed them into a sense of security that made them lower their guards around the boy, so he and Celia participated in the search.

-0-

Celia was rushing through corridors, looking everywhere, although more dignified than the knights, who were running around like headless chickens. They had searched the entire castle, twice, in the last four hours, but the boy had apparently hidden better than they had thought. She entered the library, dully noting that the dwarf had also entered, and started looking behind bookshelves, while Hagwin looked under tables and other lower spaces. Both occasionally looked up, as if expecting the boy to be hanging from the ceiling, but nothing.

Worry was eating her up. She had prided herself at being good at reading people, but that boy threw her into a loop. She had thought that he was a fairly nice guy, but she couldn't figure him out. 'What if he did manage to escape and is slaughtering innocents while we are running around like fools?' She asked herself. Both she and Hagwin rushed to the podium, seeing if the boy was hiding behind it.

"Hm? Oh, hi Celia, Hagwin." A voice called out. They ignored it the first ten seconds, then both spun around. There, in the reading area, close by a window, a few stacks of books around him, was Naruto, giving them a friendly wave.

Celia found her voice first. "N-Naruto? What are you doing?"

He lifted a book in answer. "Reading. Originally I was looking for the kitchen, but when I came across the library, I thought it might be a good idea to read a bit about this new world I have been dropped into. Do you know what the commotion is about? There's a lot of noise outside, and every ten minutes a few people come rushing in and search the shelves and everything. Did the castle's boss lose a ring or something, since they looked under the bookcases."

Hagwin gulped. "What are ye wearing, lad?" He asked, seeing that Naruto wasn't wearing the white hospital-robe.

Naruto looked down on the simple brown clothing. "Oh this? Well, the gown was a bit restricting, not to mention it was itchy, so when I came across what looked like the laundry, I snatched a few pieces hanging to dry that I thought might fit. Since you burned my stuff, I thought it was only fair."

"Why aren't you in your bed?" Celia asked.

Naruto tilted his head. "Because I was bored. There was nothing to do there, and nobody reacted when I called out for food, so I decided to take matters into my own hands."

Celia felt a headache coming. She turned to Hagwin. "Honorable dwarf, please be so kind as to get father Mobius and General Marius here, would you? And I think we can drop the lockdown. I'll make sure that our guest remains here."

That she referred to him as honorable dwarf told Hagwin that Celia was extremely annoyed, and tried to escape into courtesy. "Aye. I'll be right back." With that, he left, Celia giving the boy, who had returned to his reading, an evil stare.

-0-

Marius looked at the boy, who had politely put the book down to look at him. "Good evening." He started politely. "We have not yet been introduced, my name is Marius, my title is General. I was the one who summoned you here, and I have a few questions. First of all, where have you been these past hours?"

Naruto shrugged. "Right here, reading."

Marius's expression was blank. "You do know that we have been looking for you, and that the library was searched multiple times?"

Naruto shrugged. "I have during my life learned that if people are looking for someone that they believe should be running and hiding, then they will look for exactly that. They were looking for someone that was ducking in corners or hiding in shadows, and as my hair-color seems to be more common here than back home, they barely spared me a glance, as I was not acting out of place." That particular knowledge had helped him when mobs were chasing him on a few occasions. Cover the whiskers and rub dirt in your hair, then act as if you didn't even notice the mob. Don't try to be inconspicuous, just act natural. A simple advice, but one of the most difficult things to do.

Marius nodded. "I see." It made sense. When he looked for criminals belonging to Light Races, they looked for someone that acted in a way that made him stand out. Seeing someone read in a library was absolute normal behavior, so the searchers had likely only glanced at him at best.

Mobius nodded, the explanation made sense, but one thing bothered him. "How did you get out of the bed, and leave the anatomy-model in your place?"

Naruto shrugged. "I used the _Kawarimi no Jutsu_, what else?"

Mobius blinked. "Is that a spell?"

Naruto frowned. He had read about spells in the books he read, but the whole principle seemed too different from what he knew. "Well, not exactly. It's a jutsu, a technique used by channeling chakra through the body and using handsigns to shape it. The one I used is considered one of the low-level jutsu, as it costs little chakra and can quickly be completed. It essentially allows me to swap locations with a nearby object that is suitable. Since I come from a land of forest, we generally use logs that are set nearby beforehand. Changing location with another living being works too, but it's more difficult than an inanimate object. I do not know any spells." Even while he said that, something in the very back of his mind was telling him that that might not be true, but he ignored it.

Mobius nodded to himself. With an internal source of mana, it was not too far a stretch to assume that they used it completely different than the inhabitants of Gaia. He had no doubt that this Naruto had come from another world, or news of a race with unbelievable mana-reserves would have reached his race long ago. "Before we discuss this further, we have two spells that we'd like you to try out. They're nothing grand, we just want to know if you can use Gaian magic."

Naruto nodded and read the note that they passed him. Reading it, he didn't even notice that it, and the books he had been reading before, were written in languages that he had never even heard of before, and if he noticed, he would have assumed it had something to do with the summoning. After all, he could call toads that spoke human language, not to mention the many other summon-creatures that spoke human despite the fact that their vocal chords should not be able to produce those sounds.

He frowned, tried to send his chakra while speaking the words. He felt a flow, but there was something blocking it, on both attempts. It was as if his chakra was trying to change into something that it couldn't. He sighed. "Sorry, it doesn't work. It feels like my chakra is trying to become something different, but it just can't."

Marius nodded his head. "That's alright. It seems that you are incapable of shaping your mana, or chakra as you call it, into White Magic or Black Magic. In that regard, you are most similar to the dwarves. You probably could cast magic, but you'd need something that transforms the mana for you. We knights of the Order of the Equitatus Magicus use certain Talismans, while the Paladins use their hammers. But you seem to have control over your mana, even though you cannot use it to cast magic by yourself. Would you perhaps be interested in fighting with us, the Light Races, against the evils of this world?"

Mobius now cleared his throat. "Before you answer that, I would like to know a bit more of the world you come from. For one thing, Celia told me that there are neither elves nor dwarves there."

Naruto nodded. "Yes, humans are the dominant faction on my world. But how about a trade?" When the other four were looking at him, he explained "As it seems that you currently do not know how to bring me back to my own world, I'm stuck here. I will tell you about my world, but in return, you will tell me about yours."

The two leaders exchanged looks, then they nodded. "That is agreeable."

-0-

So while telling them about his world, about the shinobi and summons and all things he didn't deem private or a secret, Naruto learned of this new world he had landed in.

He learned that the inhabitants of this world did not have an internal source of chakra like he did, but that they in fact gathered it out of the surrounding air. This airborn energy, called mana, was also referred to as Neutral Magic, or Raw Magic, since it could not be used in any spells and the only uses it had in this form was that it could be sent to others and crafted into dwarven work. Those that could use this mana processed the magic so that it became either White Magic or Black Magic. This did not mean healing- and damage-magic, those two types were actually fairly alike, in that they could be put in tune with elements, allowing both White and Black mages to throw fire, shoot lightning or command water, or used in pure form, which on the Light side only the Paladins did. Black Magic was apparently evil, and only the Order of the Equitates Magicus had permission to use it, and only for their demon-summoning to forge their blades. There were three other magics, namely Ancient Magic, Demon Magic and Divine Magic. Ancient Magic, commonly known as Nature Magic, was if at all only known to a select few, that distanced themselves from society, while the last one that could use Divine Magic had died over a twenty millenniums ago. Demon Magic was a hypothetical magic, as non-demons were unable to use it, and the only reason it was known because of the fact that if one channeled mana into a Dark Blade of the knights, it turned into something that could not be used in any spells.

He had also learned a bit of this world's basics. It was called Gaia, and consisted of one single giant supercontinent and a few islands as far as everyone was concerned. A few explorers had been sent over the ocean, but none had ever returned. There was one larger island, a continent really, but currents, whirlpools and freak winds had kept it free of population. The supercontinent and the islands were inhabited by different races, and it was said that there were three plagues that the gods had sent the inhabitants as a punishment for long-forgotten crimes.

The first plague was the gremlins. This race had been created not by the gods, but by a mage seeking perfect soldiers for an army. His creation had then killed and eaten him before spreading like a disease. They reached a size of roughly five feet, with their skins ranging from a sickly yellow over a pale green to ash-gray, and were the ultimate carnivores. Not only did they feast on any other being they could kill, but cannibalism was quite common when a gremlin died or was injured enough to not be able to fight. They could scale the most even walls, and were very aggressive. They were just intelligent enough to steal, make and use weapons, copy battle-formations, and organize attacks. What made them a plague was not their ridiculously fast asexual reproduction, but the fact that Gremlins were almost immune to White and Black Magic, making them a bothersome enemy for even the strongest of mages.

The second plague were the undead. Anyone, from any race, that was not properly buried, burned or decapitated stood the risk of becoming one. As such a creature, they are free from the bonds of mortality, allowing them greater strength and speed than they could ever possess in life. The undead were placed into five categories: Skeletons, Dead, Dead Beast, Dead Warrior, and Lich.  
Skeletons were non-Lichs that had rotted away until only their bones remained. These constructs could only be killed by smashing their skulls, but like the Dead and the Dead Beasts, they were fairly mindless.  
Dead were simple beings that died and revived, the default-class of the undead, so to speak.  
Dead beasts were simply non-humanoid undead, no different from the Dead.  
A Dead Warrior was created when a warrior with great will died. They retained part of their sentience, and all skills that they had in life, however their mind was twisted with a hate of all things living. They had the ability to command lesser undead. Dead, Dead Beasts and Dead Warriors can only be slain by decapitation or crushing of the skull.  
The final, and most terrible type of undead was the Lich. A Lich was born when a mage died and was not laid to proper rest. The Lich is comprised of bones and darkness that covers them. They retain all knowledge of when they were alive, but with the same hatred of all breathing creatures that ravish the Dead Warriors. While it is incapable of White Magic, their twisted being allows them to warp their spells so that they can be used with Black Magic, with the price that no living being could ever benefit from such a twisted magic. Lichs can easily control legions of Dead and Dead Beasts, and even subjugate Dead Warriors to their whims. Of all undead, they are the most frightening, as they are the most intelligent and powerful, even able to raise properly buried corpses as undead, unless they were burned or decapitated. The Lich can, unlike the other types of undead that can die at a mundane's hand, only be slain by White Magic, which all undead are weak against.

The third plague were the Evil Races, as Mobius called them. Races that had decided to stand against the Light Races. Here Naruto had doubts, as the enemy was usually demonized, though the stories of slaughtered villages did send shivers up his spine.

When all was said and done, Marius looked at Naruto, and asked the final question.

-0-

"So, will you fight by our side?"

Naruto took a deep breath. "You have, so far, given me no reason to doubt your word. So as long as I see your actions as just, I shall fight by your side."

-0-

The next day, Naruto found himself in the castle's large courtyard, surrounded by three knights. Marius stepped forward. "Sir Naruto, you have agreed to fight by our side. However, we cannot fight with you unless we know what you are capable of. These knights will test your skill. There will be no killing or permanent injury. What is your weapon of choice, Sir Naruto?"

Naruto smiled. "I was trained as a shinobi, or assassin. As such, my mindset in battle is not of a knight who will fight his opponent fairly, but of doing what is necessary to win. This is my warning to my opponents. I'd like my kuna... knives, if you don't mind."

Marius nodded. "Of course. One should always fight with weapons that one is familiar with."

Naruto was given his pouch, which he strapped around his leg, and pulled out a single kunai, holding it in a reverse-dagger position.

Naruto nodded to himself, and looked at his opponent. It was Evan. He grinned. "As the host, you get the first blow."

"Too kind." Evan replied, waiting for the signal.

Marius nodded. "BEGIN!"

Evan unleashed a flurry of strikes against Naruto, who actually folded his hands behind his back while effortlessly dodging the attacks with minimal motion, while gently mocking Evan. "Oops. Not bad. Little more to the left. Almost. Jeez, are you blind or drunk? Better luck next time."

Evan was growing increasingly angry, when Marius's voice rang out. "ENOUGH!"

The General looked at Naruto. "I ask that you yourself attack in this battle." He stated.

Naruto raised his hand, as if to ask a question. "Is this 'show what you can do' or 'end the fight as fast as you can'?" He asked.

Marius was surprised by the question, then he understood. Naruto had said that he was trained as an assassin. He probably had combat-abilities, but he wanted to know if this was to show off or just to win. "For the first round, end it as fast as you can. We shall see from that point."

"Whenever you feel like it." Naruto mocked.

Evan swung his sword horizontally, intending to cut the blonde boy in half. But just as his blade reached him, there was a flicker, and his strike hit air. Before he could blink, his head was pulled back, a hand had wrapped around his jaw, while something cold and metallic tickled his Adam's apple.

"Don't move a muscle." Spoke a cold voice next to his ear.

Marius was baffled, but he hid it well. "Sir Naruto is the victor." Naruto released him.

Evan rubbed his neck, and asked Hagwin, who had been seated closest "What happened?"

The dwarf shrugged. "I don't know, I blinked."

-0-

Marius leaned over to Mobius. "Did you see that?" He whispered.

Mobius nodded. "Yes. Quite impressive. He ducked under the attack at the last instant, jumped out of his crouch, a one-legged push six yards behind Sir Evan to add upward-momentum. Flipping in the air, he landed feet-first twenty feet up the wall, pushed himself off and landed behind his opponent, stopping all his momentum with one foot and snaking his hand around the boy's neck. When pushing himself back in an upright position, the other boy's head had to follow and exposed the throat, and he put the arm with the dagger to it, all in a single second. I could name quite a number of elves that couldn't do that. Also, the whole action didn't cause a single sound, did you notice?"

"Yes." Marius replied. "He seems to have elven grace in that regard. And it makes sense too. He says he's an assassin, moving without making sound is a must."

"Indeed." Mobius agreed. "Still, he said that in his world, the shiwo... shimo... assassins also take the role of soldiers. I'm curious as to what he can do."

Marius smiled. "Why don't we find out?" He raised his voice. "Sir Naruto, in your next battle, please try to entertain us rather than end the battle quickly. You will fight three knights. Magic is permitted."

Naruto nodded absentmindedly, his thoughts elsewhere. How the hell had he moved so fast? It was like his whole body had gotten a major upgrade. Not to mention that his chakra felt different. More controlled, less chaotic. He looked at the three knights. Evan and two other humans. Not as dangerous as elves were made to be, but he knew too little about their style of combat to seek out weak-points. He'd have to watch them fight a while before he could properly organize a defense, not sure what their 'magic' could do. So he decided on an old classic. After Marius officially started the battle, Naruto formed a familiar handsign. "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_"

Instead of one, a hundred blonds were filling the courtyard. Evan's eyes widened as he hit at one, who puffed in smoke. "An illusion? No, there was resistance. Doppelgangers!" He and his comrades fought valiantly, stabbing and chopping, but it was quite clear that they would soon be overwhelmed by sheer numbers, as for each one that poofed away, three more came to take its place, so all three jumped towards the closest wall, forming a half-circle so that their backs were not unprotected, and started chanting.

"**Fireball!**" was shouted thrice, and two blasts of fire shot into the clone-army, digging deep trenches into it, while the third aimed for the real Naruto. In his surprise, Naruto didn't dodge, but instead used the first thing that came to mind. "_Rasengan!_"

None were more surprised than Naruto, when not only a perfect orb of swirling energy appeared in his hand, but when slammed against the fireball, it actually seemed to swallow it, darkening. The only problem was, the whole thing was getting highly unstable, and Naruto barely had time to shout "OUT OF THE WAY!" Before he had to toss it away, the orb flying like a bullet, creating a giant pillar of spinning fire when it impacted on the ground. A second later, burning ember fell like heavy rain. Fortunately the others had heeded his advice, and there were no injuries.

"What was _that_?" Evan demanded, pointing at the scorched ground.

Naruto looked at his hands, just as baffled. "I don't know, it never did anything like that before. I think it was because of that fire you shot at me. It somehow merged with my _Rasengan_, and... bam." He blinked. "Um, is the battle still on?" He asked.

Evan and the others blinked. "I think so." The one to the right answered, and the clones began to renew their attack, while the knights again cast fireballs.

Evan was mumbling something, before he looked up. Bolts of lightning were arcing around his body, gathering in front of him. Naruto's eyes widened while he and his clones threw all their kunai into the ground, forming a carpet of kunai. Evan groaned under the pressure, but he shouted out "**Thunder Cannon!**"

A massive bolt of lightning shot forward, annihilating the first row of clones, before beginning to fan out, attracted by the metal kunai, which earthed the flow of electricity. Sadly, instead of ebbing out, the blast merely peeled like an onion, layer for layer drawn to the floor, which had the result that when it reached Naruto, it was no longer as thick as a barrel, but only had the size of a fist.

Naruto, who was having a déjà vu from his fight with Sasuke, formed another _Rasengan_ and slammed it into the lightning. As he had hoped, the two attacks canceled each other out, and the last few volts were pulled to the ground. Naruto grabbed his last kunai, and decided to teach this world that these things were throwing-knives. He hurled it at Evan, the blade missing his neck by a fraction of a millimeter, but hitting the chainmail that was hanging off the helmet's back as a neck-guard, piercing it and pulling the entire helmet off his head, before digging itself into the wall. Before the other two had a chance to react, Naruto was between them, his hands sliding into the gap between helmet and chest-plate, his fingernails putting pressure on their throats.

Naruto spoke. "I claimed your throats. You're all dead."

Silence. Then...

Clap, clap, clap

Heads turned. Marius and Mobius stood next to each other, both politely applauding. That broke the spell, and the watchers broke into cheers for the great battle. Other knights swarmed into the courtyard, patting the losers on the back while congratulating Naruto, who had dispelled his clones and called a few more to pick up his real, burning-hot kunai before they were trampled. For a second, Naruto thought he saw something flashing in Evan's eyes, but if so, then it was gone the next instant.

-0-

While Naruto was bathing in cheers, two men were discussing what they had witnessed.

"With that power, he can be a great asset." Mobius stated.

Marius knew what the elf was getting at. "Or a great danger."

Mobius nodded. "I hope that all will be well, but just in case, I will have Celia remain here as a watcher. The boy is dangerous, that much is clear. If he becomes a liability..."

Marius's expression was blank. "Then he will be taken care of, permanently." He replied.

* * *

Chapter 3 is done. Well, another one's up.

I'm back for now. As I said before, I'm being drafted next week, so I have no idea if I manage another update before, and at what pace I will be writing. I'm considering buying a laptop, but it would also need a week to arrive.

To those wondering about my job-test, I caught a bad cold and decided to call it off. You can only do pilot-tests once, so I didn't want to risk it. Of course, I was already in Hamburg then, and had to waste two days to get back home. An all-around waste of time, effort and resources.

Yes, Naruto will fight with the Light Races for a while, before they deem him too big a threat, both due to his power and his opinions. Then they will betray him, and he will join the Dark Side. They have cookies. Sorry, couldn't resist.

I've explained magic, and made another races show up. Don't fret if you missed him, he plays only a minor role, and his appearance was more to justify the short explanation for the last of the light races. Sorry for the battle, it wasn't that great. It's just supposed to be a show of what Naruto can do. Jutsu will be in Japanese, also cursive and underlined, while spells will be English and bold. And for those that are wondering what happened to the _Rasengan_, I used what Jiraiya uses as his Ougi in Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm.

And regarding the races, they don't have to be evil per se, even neutral is enough. I am working with the concept that the Light Races work by the principle 'Those who are not for me are against me', in other words, they separate into allies and enemies. There is no middle-ground.

A small preview, the gremlins are the orcs seen in the LotR-movies, while the 'official' orcs will be more akin to those seen in Warcraft.

Someone suggested minotaurs, saying they were not evil but territorial. While I agree that if I use them they won't be, the original minotaur was a monster in Greek mythology, born from a queen and a bull from Poseidon that was supposed to be sacrificed, that was very violent and survived by eating humans. The maze was not his home, the king had him lured in there to be rid of him, and threw fourteen people in there every year to prevent him from looking too hard for an exit. So yes, the original Minotaur was in fact very evil.

**Encyclopedia of Gaian Species**

Halfling  
The halflings, who refer to themselves as hobbits, are the last of the good races. Averaging at three to four feet, these fellows are friends of eating, drinking, smoking, and celebration, with a lifespan twice as long as a human's. They are not frontline-soldiers, but their great aim and capabilities at sneaking, both being equaled only by the elves, are well-known. Many of them are also known to be pranksters, though some strive for honor and rise to fight. Hobbits are born with little talent for magic, though that has not kept them from trying anyways. Their fertility begins at twenty, and they are capable of pregnancy twice a year. Hobbits generally settle in plains and hills, digging individual houses into the hills and forming villages.

Well, that's all for now, so

Please Review


	4. Oath and Mission

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

* * *

"I understand the need, but I really don't like them." Naruto stated, looking unhappily at his feet. They were cased in steel-tipped shoes that had a sharp point at the tip. The metal was necessary, as his nails had shredded leather and thread when they tried to put him in those.

"Quit nagging lad, you agreed ta this." Hagwin told him.

And Naruto had. After that fateful demonstration a few weeks ago, they had him outfitted with armor, despite his protest that it would be cumbersome. Hagwin had calmed him, saying that he would personally craft him something that would withstand crossbow and catapult, and neither weigh much nor obstruct movement. Naruto had been doubtful, and made a bet that it was not possible, or he would wear whatever they deemed fit without protest. If he won, then he didn't have to wear armor. He had really underestimated dwarven craftsmanship.

What Hagwin had handed him three days later was indeed excellent. A fine chain-mail that was indeed nearly impossible to penetrate, covered by segmented plates that slid below each other on chest, back, arms, and legs, allowing maximum maneuverability without sacrificing protection. The whole thing barely wore more than a heavy jacket and thick pants, and in fact reminded Naruto of his old jumpsuit. Hagwin had in fact said that he apologized for the weight, he didn't have good materials, before starting a tirade on the toughness, versatility and featherweight of mythril. Naruto had been impressed by the work. But the shoes were a plague.

"Shall we begin?" Celia asked, standing in front of Naruto, weapons drawn. They were teaching Naruto how to use weapons, and the boy was not bad. Celia was better of course, and she won every fair fight that they had by a landslide. Which was why Naruto had stopped fighting fair on the third day.

-0-

So here he was now, wearing armor, he had managed to escape the helmet, standing in a large training-room with Hagwin, Celia, and an entire wall of weaponry he had to learn how to use, in what could best be described as boot camp.

Celia was in armor, and served as his sparring-partner in weaponry, and as his archery-teacher. So far, they had gone over bows and crossbows, and while Naruto could now hit a target, they had determined that he was definitely not an archer. In closer-range weaponry, Naruto was acceptable with a sword, decent with axe, mace and hammer, downright dangerous with daggers, completely hopeless with a spear or polearm, and a danger to himself with a morning-star. Generally he seemed to be best with short weapons like knives and throwing-axes.

Hagwin had been particularly pleased when Naruto showed a talent for those, and had invited him to a drink later on. Celia had discreetly informed him that rejecting such an offer was an insult to a dwarf, so Naruto had something to look forward to this evening.

Right now he was wielding a long-shafted hammer and a curved blade, called a falchion. Celia was equipped similarly, and wiping the floor with him.

No matter what Naruto did, the elf seemed one step ahead, her movement almost a dance as she avoided his blows, Naruto hard-pressed to do the same. He leaned back to avoid a sweep of the hammer, before snapping back up and slamming the hammer down.

Remembering the last time he did that, when she had blocked, only to find out the he had let go of the hammer and used her guard as a rotational axis to give her an uppercut with the spinning grip, she jumped back, only for Naruto to use the swing to catapult himself forward, letting go of the hammer and slipping in her guard, where her hammer was ineffective. Both froze.

Naruto's blade was hovering above her forehead, while her own falchion had stopped an inch in front of his neck. "Draw?" Naruto asked.

"Accepted." Celia replied, and both relaxed.

The first time she had been beaten, she had been angered, as it was a shame for an elf to lose against a mortal in single-combat, but by now she had accepted that Naruto had the speed of an elf and the strength of a troll, so loss was no shame. Their current win/loss ratio was 19/52/7 in Celia's favor, so it was not like she was doing bad. In fact, as a young elf of only two centuries, she was doing remarkably well, the fights helping her improve her form. While the advice he gave wasn't always the honorable way, nobody could deny that he could tell which spot would end the fight, and the enemy's life, quickly.

Naruto looked at her. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

Celia looked up. In the beginning, she had disliked his directness, but by now, she had warmed to both him, and to a lesser degree Hagwin. It seemed that the higher-ups had decided that they would become a team of sorts, and there was nothing they could do. "Sure, what?"

Naruto pointed at the hammer in her hand. "You seem to be best with a hammer, why?"

Celia lifted it up. "The hammer is the weapon of the paladin. It is as important to us as our comrades, and we take care of it. While a good weapon, what truly makes it so important is that it can store great amounts of mana, and automatically transform it into White Magic, allowing us to cast our spells more swiftly. The knights have talismans that store mana, but they have to transform it themselves, meaning their spells take longer to charge, and are more draining, as drawing mana and transforming it into Magic is more exhausting than simply channeling White Magic through your body while you chant."

Naruto nodded. "Yes, I know that it's an important medium, but that was not my question. Why a hammer? I don't mean to offend you, but you are not exactly built for using such a tool. Hagwin would be a more suitable candidate for that weapon."

Hagwin looked up from polishing his axe. "That's true. The hammer is a traditional dwarven weapon, together with the axe."

"Thank you." Naruto supplied, before looking at Celia. "My point is, your built is lighter, and you are quick and agile, making you more suited for a more balanced weapon, something with a blade, maybe bow and arrow for long-range. The hammer is a weapon that puts more on brute force than elegance." He noticed the dwarf's expression at that assessment. "Don't look at me like that Hagwin, you'll have to admit that hitting hard is more important with a hammer than quickly dancing around the enemy and dishing out short blows."

Hagwin nodded. "Ye're right. It's common knowledge amongst dwarves that the point of fighting with a hammer is ta make sure that the enemy doesn't get up after yer first strike."

Celia considered Naruto's words. As an elf, she was physically stronger than a human, allowing her to swing her hammer easier and longer than human men, and she was very proud of her crystal-hammer, but it was indeed a weapon that she couldn't wield as easily as the elven blades her father trained her with.

Naruto wasn't finished. "I've noted that your full battle-suit means you in armor with hammer, and either a horse that carries provisions, or a bag in which you carry them yourself. Do you have no other weapon? I mean, do paladins wait until the enemy is within reach before they attack?"

Celia rolled her eyes. "Of course not. That's what magic is for."

Naruto frowned. "But doesn't that mean that you're draining your weapon before the enemy is even there? Why not shoot him with a bow like a normal person, and save your reserves for when you might really need them?"

Celia tilted her head. She had never thought about that. "I see your point, but we paladins are forbidden from carrying other weapons than our hammer."

"Why?" Naruto asked. It was a simple question really, but Celia found no answer.

Hagwin shrugged. "It's an old order-rule, lad, don't bother with logic. Our order has some of those too. For example, we may not sleep more than five hours at a time, not even in the infirmary. Something about being aware at all times."

Naruto stared at him. "That's stupid. The body needs rest."

Hagwin laughed. "Aye. That it does. But it also needs ale. So get done with yer lesson laddie, so we can break a few barrels together. Let me see how ye swing that hammer."

The rest of the lesson went fairly swiftly, with Celia scolding Naruto if he made a mistake with the sword, and Hagwin scolding him if he made a mistake with the hammer.

-0-

The day had finally come to an end, and Naruto, Hagwin, and surprisingly Celia had taken a seat next to a barrel of dwarven ale that Hagwin had brought for himself and friends, each a tankard in hand. When Hagwin invited her, she had not wanted to be impolite, although her expression clearly showed that she didn't want to, but after the first few gulps, she had warmed up to the idea. Naruto was currently talking, telling stories of how things had been back home, and even Celia had laughed when he told them about how he had hogtied the arrogant asshole Sasuke, though the liquor was probably responsible for that show of emotion.

He looked at Celia. "So Celia, how does an elf live his life?"

Celia looked at him, but shrugged. "Children are a gift for us high-elves. Since we live so long, we rarely have children, so when we do, we cherish them. A child is taught from earliest childhood, both knowledge and manners, and the art of combat. The first thing we learn is how to behave towards others, how to use a bow, and the effects of different herbs, later then the usage of elven blades, White Magic, different craftsmanship, and deeper knowledge about the world. After roughly a century, the basic training is done, and one can decide if one wants to stay, or leave to fight for our world. Most that choose to leave join the paladins if male, or the temple of Valir if female. I know that some elves join the Equitatus Magicus, but those are wood-elves, fire-elves or the like. No high-elf has ever joined the knights. Actually, the reason for that is that it causes us physical pain to wield Dark Blades, as they are incompatible with our nature. I would have gone to the temple, but singing and praying have never been my strongest points. I wanted to actively do something, hence I joined the paladins. Uncommon, but not unheard of."

Naruto nodded, secretly thinking that a high-elf's life sounded dreadfully dull. Then he turned to Hagwin. "So Hagwin, what's it like being a dwarf? I mean, I know a bit about this world, but how does a dwarf live his life? I don't trust a book written by non-dwarves to be accurate."

Hagwin took another deep gulp, his head red and eyes slightly glazed. "Aye, books are mostly nonsense. Lessee, where to start. We live in mountains, ye know that. Of course we have all sorts of works, and dwarves that do it, from cleaning to cataloging to just transporting stuff. But if ye want respect, then there are only five jobs that ye can take, and the requirements for each are very high, because everyone wants to do it, geddit?"

Celia was definitely past the point of safe return, as she chugged down her fourth tankard. Apparently she had not wanted to be outdrunk by a dwarf. "W-What are thoge, hiccup, jobs?"

Hagwin laughed as he downed his fifth. "Shimple, um, _simple_. Ye can be a soldier, like I am, a stonemason, and design and build our buildings, a miner, digging through the ground for gems and metals, or a smith. Me father is a smith, and a damn good one! Taught me all he knows, said I was really gifted. But I wanted to be a soldier, and me father nodded, forged me this axe, and said 'Laddie, I know how you feel. A man wants to prove himself, I was no different yer age. Go out and earn yer spurs, but respect yer comrades, stay true to yerself, and don't forget yer honor as a dwarf! As long as you do that, ye'll always be welcome in me halls.' Good man me father, good man."

Naruto got his sixth filling. This stuff was great. "Sho, what'ch the lasht job?" He asked, his tongue heavy.

Hagwin laughed and raised his tankard. "An ale-brewer laddie, an ale-brewer."

For some reason, all three broke out into laughter. Naruto felt like he truly belonged. Not in this world, not in this silly order, but with these two. Was this what it was supposed to feel like to be a team? If so, then it was good. He raised his tankard, focusing so that he'd speak without slur. "To us. And that we will stand by each other, even in the greatest peril!"

Hagwin looked surprised, but then he refilled his tankard and slammed it into Naruto's. "Ta us. And that we stay true ta our hearts and our comrades in arms."

Celia looked at the two of them, but then she simply laughed, adding her own tankard to the two. "To us. And that we will always know what is right, and act upon it, together."

With that, all three leaned back and emptied their tankards in one go.

Naruto looked around, and noticed Celia was getting trouble staying on the chair. He cleared his throat. "I think that was a good finish. How 'bout we all go to bed now?"

Celia was thankful for the save, and tried to get on her feet. Using her elven grace, she actually succeeded, although it was pretty wobbly. Naruto carefully approached her, allowing her to lean onto him for support. He himself was intoxicated, but his balance was better. Celia was a newbie when it came to alcohol, that much was clear. So was Naruto, but he was doing fine. He guessed it was because of the Kyuubi.

The demon was currently going nuts in his head, sending him weird dreams and bizarre pictures.

Either way, Naruto brought her to the closet-sized room that had been designated as her domain while here.

-0-

Naruto had to heave her through the door, as the elf was now more hanging to his shoulder than leaning on it, and laid her into her bed. "You okay?" He asked, now actually worried the girl might get alcohol-poisoning.

She nodded her head. "It's okay. We elves can handle a lot of liquor. You should sometime try elven wine."

Naruto smiled. "I'll try to organize some for our next toast."

Celia groaned. "I'll be available in roughly ten years."

Naruto had to laugh. "Celia, I'm wondering. You're actually a likable person, why do you act like an ice-queen?"

Celia blinked at him, and mumbled something that Naruto translated into "Not proper behavior."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Like the Hyuuga. Stick shoved up the ass to support the spine." He cleared his throat. "Is there anything I can do for you? Some water?"

Celia tugged at her armor. "Hand me the white dress over there."

Naruto looked at it, a plain white dress. It felt very soft. He gave it to her. "Here."

Celia grabbed it. "Thanks. Now please help me out of this armor."

Naruto raised a brow. "Are you sure I shouldn't call a doctor?"

Celia glared weakly. "Just out of the plates, I can do the chain-mail myself."

Naruto shrugged and carefully removed the solid plating from her arms, legs, back, and finally her chest. He was surprised at how curvy and appealing her body was beneath the androgynous armor. Large chest, thin waist, full hips, and her skin was soft, as Naruto had learned taking off the leg-protection, and without a single blemish. He shook his head, and stood up, before the alcohol might cause him to do something that would destroy the bonds they had forged. "Good night, Celia." He whispered, before closing the door.

He barely heard her quiet "Good night, Naruto."

-0-

Marius leaned back in his chair. Mobius had left after ordering Celia to stay, so he was again at peace. Still, he now had to deal with the young elf. "So, it has been six weeks since the training started. How is he doing?"

Celia shrugged. "As far as weapon-training goes, he is about as good as he's going to get without actual combat. He can use a sword, is doing alright with mace, axe and hammer, can throw a spear, and should be kept away from morning-stars and polearms that he actually has to wield. Unarmed or with a knife he's the most dangerous, but that's probably because of how he was taught."

Marius looked at her. "Do you believe him ready for missions?"

Celia nodded. "I would believe so. He obviously has experience in combat, and in friendly competitions, we won't see his full potential."

Marius nodded. "Hagwin?"

The dwarf shrugged. "I agree. The lad can't pull all stops in a friendly match, and after the stories he told, I'm itching ta see what was bragging."

Marius sighed. In truth, he was just as curious, so he nodded. "Very well. You three will be an escort for the supplies for Sat Gean, together with a few other knights. There you will join the garrison guarding the fort for three weeks, before returning. While this is usually a simple mission that we give to inexperienced knights, which is true for all of you, there have been rumors that some armed gremlins has been spotted in the area, so stay on guard. You will head out tomorrow."

"Yes, my lord!" Hagwin straightened up as he lowered his head, while Celia placed her right fist above her heart. The respectful stances for their respective order.

Marius looked at them. What an unlikely pair. What an unlikely group, he corrected himself. It would be interesting to see where they would go, although neither he nor the council of elders particularly trusted Naruto. There was something the boy was not saying, and his skills were frightening. Either way, he nodded to the two. "Dismissed. Spend the day preparing your equipment, food will be taken care of by the supply-train."

The two nodded, and left quickly to inform Naruto. They were excited, but also nervous. Neither of them had really participated in real battle before, and were anxious as to what would await them.

-0-

Naruto yawned. It was the crack of dawn, and they were already up and marching. He was currently in his armor, a zweihänder strapped to his back, while six throwing-axes were hanging from his sides. His kunai-holster was tied to his left leg, while on his right a set of throwing-knives was strapped on a piece of leather that circled his leg. The final weapon, a pair of daggers hidden between the chain-mail and the plating on his lower back, where they would be easily reached should someone tie him up, not that he would need it, with his razor-sharp nails.

Hagwin had his double-bladed battleaxe strapped to his back, and a few smaller ones for throwing, while Celia had nothing but her crystal-hammer in terms of weaponry. Both wore armor of course, including helmet.

They were accompanied by two more trios. One Naruto knew, as they were the ones he had fought in the mock-battle, while the third consisted of more experienced soldiers, a human, a pale ice-elf, and what Celia had told him was a pretty grumpy fire-elf. Naruto would have been able to guess that much from the bronze skin and the deep frown alone.

So the final count was four humans, three elves, one dwarf, and one enigma, seeing that Naruto himself would not be able to tell what he was, all armed to the teeth, with the exception of the only female, who only had one weapon, walking down a well-trodden path to meet up with the caravan that would be their fate for the next month, as Sat Gean was a weeks travel away on horseback, not only from the Headquarters of the Equitatus Magicus, who were amongst the nearest military bases, but civilization as a whole, as it was a four-day ride from the fort to the next settlement, as Evan had whispered conspiratorially into Naruto's ear.

-0-

Caravan turned out to be an exaggeration, as there were only five carts, each pulled by four giant draft-horses. When the group met them, they were already escorted by seven paladins, six of them high-elves with the last being human. Regrettably, food also turned out to be an exaggeration, as the gnomes and lone halfling in the carts gave them the barest minimum to keep them going.

The most impressive things were the carts themselves. Shaped like blocks, each ten feet high, nine feed wide not counting the walkway, and twenty feet long. Instead of wooden constructs, they seemed to consist mainly of stone and iron, practically small houses on wheels. The idea was that should the guards be overwhelmed, instead of a plundering it would be a siege to get the goods, and the gnomes used every chance to tell them that they'd lock up at the first hint of trouble. Around the main-building, there was a roofed walkway, three feet wide, allowing more people to hitch a ride in an emergency, or if it rained. It even had a small extension at the front in which the horses could retreat in the case of rain or attack.

But twelve days had passed without much problem, aside from the time where they had driven through marshlands, and the carts had to be pushed. But barring that incident, which had knights and paladins cussing in surprising unity, the journey had been quiet, going over plains and forests, over that blasted swamp and mountains, to where they were now, tall grass, on the widest path so far, ten feet of plant-free earth spanning between the cart and the grass on both sides.

The younger, less experienced members in particular had had problems keeping up, especially since the seniors saw it as their privilege to hitch a ride on the carts while the rookies ran, aside from the times when they were called to get the carts unstuck, seeing that they were rested.

They were about a day's journey away from their goal, and all wanted to just get it over with, but the gnomes refused to give their horses the spurs, as they felt there was no reason to rush.

Naruto disagreed. There were plenty of reasons to rush. He didn't like the terrain. He had liked the plains, found the forest okay, being used to it, the mountains had made him nervous, and the swamp was plain awful. but this grassland he hated. And it showed.

"Naruto, what got you so upset?" Evan asked. The boy had proven himself to be an okay guy, a joker of sorts, but Naruto just couldn't warm up to him. He felt there was something beneath the surface, and he wasn't sure if he liked it.

But Naruto didn't show his dislike, instead just waving his hand at the surrounding grass. "Look around, then you'll see what unnerves me."

Evan looked around, then shrugged. "Grass as far as the eye can see, and?"

Naruto pointed at him. "You said it, as far as the eye can see. We can't see shit! We could be walking right into a bandit-camp, and we wouldn't even know it!"

"Oh please, nothing happens on these missions." Evan laughed.

Naruto snorted. "I told you about the way missions were ranked in my world, didn't I?"

Evan frowned. "I heard about it. It started with D-rank, which basically meant chores, then C-rank, which meant easy tasks for beginners, B-ranks, where one practically always has to put his life on the line and are reserved for more experienced fighters, A-ranks which only veterans can take due to the danger, and S-rank, which are only for the absolute elite, right?"

Naruto nodded. "Did I ever tell you about what happened on my very first C-rank?"

Evan shook his head. "No, what?"

Naruto gave him a deadpanned look. "It turned out that our intel was lacking, and we had to duke it out with an A-ranked enemy and his apprentice, who was just as strong, if not stronger. Never think that something is a piece of cake, that's the quickest way to die."

Evan laughed again, but this time it sounded nervous, and he was giving the high grass distrusting glances. The others that had heard him also looked more alert. Good.

-0-

Ten minutes later, Naruto suddenly froze, and raised his hand, signaling the others to stop. His head shot left and right, as if trying to locate something.

Hagwin approached. "What's wrong?" He asked, but Naruto silenced him.

"Psst!" He hissed. "We're not alone."

Evan looked around. "Not funny man, really. Cut the jokes."

Naruto simply shook his head, sniffing the air.

Celia moved up. "What's wrong?" She asked.

Naruto shrugged in helpless frustration. "I don't know. Don't you hear it?"

Celia and the other elves frowned, and closed their eyes, having a better hearing, before said eyes snapped open. "Rustling. Something is moving through the grass." One of the hissed.

Naruto's head was still shooting around. "Yes. Many somethings. If my ears don't fail me, around thirty."

The leader of the paladins looked around nervously. "Nobody make any sudden movements or loud noises. We don't want to provoke an attack."

That was the cue for the gnomes to slowly and carefully call their horses into their segment, and shutting all openings of the cart except for one window at the front, so that they had a clue what was going on.

Naruto's head darted around, his eyes wide. "We're surrounded." He hissed, his right hand going for the sword, while the left pulled free an axe.

"What do you smell?" Celia asked.

Naruto frowned. "I can't say what it is, but I smell filth, blood, some metal, and rotting flesh."

Hagwin cursed. "Gremlins." He drew his battleaxe, Celia, Evan and his comrades, and the elves followed his example and drawing weapons.

However, the human knight was not convinced. "Very funny. Now stop making yourself important brat, and... grgl?" He was interrupted when an arrow pierced his neck. The last openings in the wagons were slammed shut.

"TAKE COVER!" Naruto shouted as more arrows began to fly.

The group hurdled around the first wagon, as to not be caught from behind, and one of the paladins moved to the fallen knight to try and save him. Then they broke out of the foliage. "GREMLINS!" came the call from the fire-elf.

Naruto had made a mental picture of gremlins from the descriptions, but the imagination paled against the real deal. They were hideous, and Naruto now identified another scent. That of evil. There was no kindness in these creatures, no compassion, no mercy, no trace of natural law. They didn't kill to feed, or in defense. There was no sense or reason, they simply killed to kill.

In a way, they were a less scary version of Orochimaru produced en masse. A low growl escaped his throat. They wanted a fight? Well, they got one.

-0-

Naruto had correctly estimated the numbers, there were indeed around thirty enemies, each of them with skin the colors of vomit. Their eyes were ridiculously large, over two inches in diameter, and their mouths were filled with jagged, rotting teeth. They were moving like apes, occasionally using their long arms to push forward, and were hunched. But their posture belied their speed, as they closed the distance in an instant, and they were all armed.

Their main-weapon, that was probably supposed to be a sword, was little more than a flat slab of metal sharpened on one side, with a hole in the lower backside to act as a grip, though one had a crude spear, and two had bows.

As soon as the two forces clashed, bitter fighting broke out.

Three immediately targeted Hagwin, identifying him as the weakest one because of his size. They were proven wrong when Hagwin roared and sank his axe into the closest chest, splitting the head in two.

The elves were also fairing well, their weapons smiting all who dared approach, but the humans were slowly being forced back. Their magic was useless, as the gremlins would not give them time to chant, and even if they did, it would not do much.

The gremlins also noticed this, and started to focus their assault, attacking the others mainly to keep them from aiding their comrades.

Then the inevitable happened. Evan, who had to fight off two gremlins, blocked a two-handed strike at his side. The force of the blow knocked him back, and fatally, he tripped. The fall knocked the wind out of him. The first gremlin screeched in triumph as it jumped on him and raised his sword above the downed knight's head. Evan's eyes widened. "No!" He forced out, helplessly looking around, and seeing all allies at least five steps away, too far to help. He closed his eyes

"EVAN!" Came a lone call.

Thump.

He didn't feel dead. What was going on? Evan opened his eyes, and saw that is would-be killer had a throwing-axe imbedded in its skull. Not one to waste a golden chance, he knocked the standing corpse aside and thrusted his sword into the other gremlin's chest until the tip shot out of its back. He fought himself to his feet, and laughed. "You wanna piece of me? You wanna piece of me? Come and get it!" He glanced to the right at his savior and shouted a "Thanks, I owe you one!"

Naruto currently had six gremlins on him, and to everyone's amazement seemed to be winning. Three corpses were already scattered around him as he was swinging his large sword with only one hand, his other having just thrown the axe. Naruto responded with a curt nod.

That one moment of distraction was used by a particularly brave gremlin to jump in the air and swung his blade at Naruto's face. Naruto's head was knocked to the side, as if he were looking over his shoulder, and red blood splattered the ground.

"NARUTO!" Celia called out, trying to fight her way past four gremlins to the one she by now openly called a friend.

"YE DIRTY BASTARDS!" Hagwin was similarly enraged, and slammed the thorn that was an extension of his axe's pole into the closest gremlin's chest.

The gremlin that had struck the blow cackled madly, before pausing.

Naruto's head had slowly straightened itself, a deep cut going from the hairline above his right eyebrow to the left, reaching his jawbone. Even as they looked, the wound began to heal.

For a moment, all fighting ceased. The gremlin tilted its head in confusion. Naruto's empty left hand, which had hung slack from his side, shot up, as if slapping the attacker. However, not only did the strike mince the gremlin's face, four deep gashes marking where his claws had carved their way through flesh, but the blow had spun the gremlins head 180°, snapping its neck like a twig. Naruto cracked his head. "Next."

A second gremlin jumped at him, Naruto responding by grabbing the sword in both hands and cutting the flying idiot in half. "Next." With that, the fighting resumed.

The odds had changed towards the defender's favor, as what had started with more than two-on-one odds was now twelve warriors, two paladins, the human and a high-elf, getting too injured to fight, while a third paladin was now healing them and the human knight, against fourteen gremlins, the rest already slaughtered.

Suddenly Hagwin called out. "BEHIND! WATCH YER BACKS!"

Naruto spun around, and what he saw made his blood boil. Two gremlins had apparently been smarter than the rest, and climbed the wagons. One had a bow, and stayed up, aiming at the fire-elf knight who was fighting two gremlins to allow Evan and his friends to pull back, while the other one had jumped down and attacked Hagwin from behind, knocking the dwarf on his stomach, and was apparently about to behead him. "Not on my watch." Naruto growled, before turning to the nearest gremlin. "Gimme that!" He hissed, yanking the crude sword out of its hand, before shouting "EYES UP ASSHOLE, DELIVERY!"

The archer looked up just in time to see a slab of metal, spinning like a buzz-saw, shooting at him before it slammed into him, knocking him off the wagon with a shriek.

Naruto had used the swinging of the throw to catapult himself forward at the other gremlin, who had paused to watch the show, but focused in time to see the very angry creature stampeding at it, actually trampling one of its brethren in the process, and raised its blade to block the strike that otherwise would have cut it in half at the waist. It managed to scream out "Krashnok!" before Naruto reached it. However, while the metal held, the force behind the strike was just too strong to be stopped, seeing that Naruto had unconsciously reinforced his body with chakra.

The gremlin was flung away like a pebble, slamming into the wagon it had crawled over with enough force to actually raise the two wheels on the side off the ground for a second, before it crashed back to all fours. Needless to say, the gremlin was little more than a smear.

Naruto offered his hand, which the dwarf graciously accepted. "You alright?" Naruto asked.

"Aye, I'm fine. I owe you my life lad, thanks." He looked at the not even vaguely gremlin-shaped splatter. "Strong as a troll, indeed. Now let's split some skulls, eh?"

Naruto's grin turned feral, as they together charged the leftovers. By now the winner was clear, as only four gremlins remained, three of them running away, leaving the fourth to be slaughtered by the hammer of three paladins, while the elven knights pulled out bows and shot the deserters down.

There was a tense silence, before the leading paladin sighed. "Phew, that was close. Gather the weapons and smash the heads, though cut off a few as evidence." He ordered, and the paladins started their dirty work immediately.

Naruto pulled his throwing-axe out of the gremlins head, and flicked it to rid it of the thick, blackish blood that gremlins spilled. He also made a few clones, five to gather the weapons, and three that climbed on top of the nearest wagon.

While they acted, Naruto looked at Celia. "Why do they crush the heads?" He asked.

Celia slammed her hammer down, gremlin-brain splashing. "To prevent these things from getting back up as undead."

Naruto nodded his head, then he froze. "Fuck!"

-0-

Naruto's three clones had climbed the cart, and two of them gave the third a lift, who shot high in the air to check their surroundings. When it dropped back down, the other clones' sharp claws dispelled it, and the information of what it had seen was transferred to the others.

The clones looked at each other. "Did you know we can do that?" The first asked.

The second shook his head. "Nope, but we do now."

"This is bad."

"Yup."

-0-

Naruto jumped to his feet. "We have to get out of here!"

Evan looked up. "What's wrong?"

Naruto looked at him. "I just noticed that when my clones dispel, I get the information they gathered. I had one thrown up in the air to take a look, and what we just fought wasn't a group, it was a scout-force. There's a whole army of these things coming up from behind, hundreds! We can't stay here, they're only a few miles away!"

The others stared at him for a moment, then hasty action broke out. By this point, nobody doubted Naruto's word. The leading paladin slammed his fist against the cabin closest to him, while, the elven knights did the same to the other four wagons. "GET YOUR ASSES IN GEAR, THERE'S AN ARMY OF GREMLINS BEHIND US! WE HAVE TO MOVE!" Politeness be damned, they had to get out of here!

The head-crushing and weapon-gathering became almost panicked, as the young knights grabbed what was close, and decided to leave it at the three heads they had gathered, before jumping on the wagons, which thankfully all had the roofed extension for walking around the closed part. Naruto filled the roofs and the rear-plank of the last wagon with clones, who pulled out axes to prepare for a throw to the first head that popped up.

The paladin-leader looked at him. "If there are truly that many, then we need reinforcements. Sat Gean is located on a cliff, meaning that they can only come from the front, but the fort is barely manned. With us, I recon that we may have around a hundred fighters. We have to send call for aid."

Naruto nodded. "I sent two dozen of my clones on different paths. Without the wagons or anyone else, they can run at maximum speed. They have a few heads as proof, and while some may dispel, they should make it safely to the knight's headquarters and raise alarm. Sorry, but I don't know other locations."

The paladin nodded. "My name is Cathesian. How long do you think your doppelgangers will take to reach their goal?"

Naruto frowned. "If nothing goes wrong and they don't pause, then two days, give or take five hours. They should be able to gain time in the forests, but the swamp might cost them, so I really can't tell. But I will know if something happens to them." 'Hopefully.' he silently added.

Cathesian stared, baffled at the speed, but then he nodded. "Two days. That is much better than I could have hoped for. Two days for the message to reach help, another two days for the outside to organize an army, and ten days for it to reach us. We will spend two weeks under siege. How good are your doppelgangers in combat?"

Naruto shrugged. "They have my skill, but they are fragile. A strong blow will shatter them. I can have them man the walls and throw six axes each, but as soon as those things get shields, their usefulness will become severely limited."

Cathesian nodded to himself. "Let us hope that we can endure until help arrives."

Naruto bit his lip. "The gremlin that I smeared on the wagon's wall, he shouted something Krashnok, I think."

Cathesian snorted. "Well, gremlins are not the most brave creatures, nor the most creative. Some estimate their own language has less than five-hundred words. I'm no expert, but I do know some. Krashnok is their world for a very powerful warrior, I guess it would translate to berserker, or monster. And looking at your strength, I honestly can agree. You are frighteningly strong. Not many can wrestle something out of a gremlin's clutches, let alone do what you did. I'd be surprised if you hadn't earned the title of hero by the end of this. Should we survive, of course."

While the two were talking, the horses were let out of their box and pushed to their limits, speeding the journey up immensely. Still, even at this speed, they would need at least five hours to reach the safety of Sat Gean. They could only pray that they reached it before the gremlins caught up.

-0-

It had been close. The horses had tired, and the first gremlins had shown up on the patch of bare earth, Naruto's clones throwing axes into both it and the spots where the grass moved.

It seemed that the fort had also noticed both them and the gremlins, as the plains closer to the fortress were asunder, flames reaching into the sky, three mages keeping the flames away from the road, that had been covered with dry grass and oil, to allow the supplies, and more importantly reinforcements to reach them.

"HURRY, HURRY!" The mages called out to spur them to go faster, but the horses were beginning to tire. Still, they made it through, Naruto's clones grabbing the mages and pulling them in, and the ring of fire closed behind them, cutting the enemy off. Still, they rushed to the fort, knowing that they would not be safe before the gates of Sat Gean closed behind them.

Cathesian looked at Naruto. "We owe you much. Without you, we never would have made it alive."

Naruto nodded. "What will happen now?"

Cathesian looked back at the inferno. "Those flames are normal fire, magic only directs them. Once the gremlins see them, they will retreat and cut away the grass. Once that is done, the fires will have to be directed inwards, unless it goes out, slowly burning the grass towards us. Gremlins don't like fire, so they'll keep their distance and wait until they go out from lack of fuel."

Naruto nodded. "How long do you estimate that will take?"

Cathesian sighed. "If we're lucky, two days."

Naruto leaned back. There was no other explanation, somebody up there really hated him. That thought filled Naruto's mind as the wagon pulled through the gates of Sat Gean, followed by its four siblings. With a CLANK, the gates closed, and were quickly reinforced by soldiers that had been standing by.

Now they could only wait for the bloodshed that would begin after the fire, their last shield against the hordes of gremlins, fell.

* * *

Chapter 4 is done. And it's a long one, for this story. Over 2000 words more than my original goal for chapter-length, not counting the AN, but I really wanted to get them into the fort. Description of Sat Gean will come next chapter, which with a little luck I might manage, since I don't have to show up until Monday. Wish me luck.

Next chapter will be the start of the siege, though it's likely going to take two, maybe three, chapters to finish, as I'm trying to get a feel for writing large-scale battles.

How did you like this chapter? I was a bit disappointed with the response to the third chapter, being a fan of longer and more reviews, but hopefully this one will be better. How did you like it?

For those who are wondering, Celia looks like the elf (not the dark elf) from the Lineage II trailer on youtube, only that she wears silver, gender-concealing because bulky plate-mail, Hagwin looks like Gimli from the LotR-movies, and Cathesian resembles Glorfindel (also LotR). Oh, and Mobius looks like Haldir, while Marius looks like the actor Patrick Steward on his first Wikipedia-picture, aka with beard.

Well, Naruto's instincts and senses have gotten sharper, and he has gained the Kyuubi's indifference to acts of great violence, not that he knows it yet. The merge has influenced him in certain ways, both physically and mentally, the exact extent of which is still unknown, though he will eventually be able to freely access Kyuubi's knowledge.

And to give a bit of a glimpse into the future, it's after the siege that trouble begins to brew in paradise. And no, the gremlins will not join Naruto. They are pure evil. I classified them as a separate evil for a reason.

Oh, and the summoning-contracts don't work on Gaia, as they are designed to summon within Terra. Sorry, but no giant toads. When Naruto was whisked away, the contract was broken.

And for those that have trouble picturing gremlins, they look like the orcs in The Lord of the Rings.

**Encyclopedia of Gaian Species**

Gremlin  
The gremlin is a unique race of Gaia, in that it is a race which should not exist. It was created around 50.000 years before a terran amalgam of human and demon entered it. Gremlins commonly grow up to thirty years of age. Their eyes, at least two inches in diameter, can see in near-absolute darkness, and while their hearing is slightly less than a human's, their noses are sharp like that of a wolf. Their average height is five feet and while their built is slim, they are three to four times stronger than the average human. However, just like apes, they pay for that increased strength with the lack of body-fat that would allow them to stay afloat, which resulted in all gremlins being terrified of water, to the point where they do not even drink it. They instead gain the necessary liquid directly from their prey, as their digestive-system is more effective than a human's. Gremlins do not mate. Instead, they vomit out a slimy secrete that contains embryos onto a source of nourishment for the growing gremlins. That nourishment can be anything from dung over rotting plants to corpses, allowing the gremlins to multiply quickly, as their spawning-pits are also their garbage-dumps. It takes four months for a embryo to grow into a fully-grown gremlin, and up to ten can be birthed in one go, the other embryos are generally absorbed as nutrition. Gremlins are born with instincts that tell it to go after all that is not gremlin, but it also tells them to evaluate the prey to decide if the attack has a chance of success. Training a freshly spawned gremlin can take between a week and two months, depending on if it is to be a simple sword-fighter, a spearman, an archer, a builder who constructs primitive war-machines and analyzes captured enemy machines, or a smith, who forges the weapons. Gremlins are almost immune to White and Black Magic, though in return they are extremely weak against Neutral, Demon, Ancient or Divine Magic, not that this can easily be used against them. Gremlins noticed that they can easily pass through barriers of White or Black Magic, and that this ability is also in their blood, which is why their smiths use gremlin-blood in the making of their weapons and coat all weapons that aren't forged to ensure that they too can bypass such wards. Gremlins only eat meat, although they can in dire emergencies survive from plants, and make little difference between a man's, an elf's, an animal's, or another gremlin's flesh, though latter is generally only taken from dead and heavily injured gremlins. The only meat they won't eat is that of the undead, as even they can feel the corruption that animates them. Ironically, despite their high resistance to it, gremlins are fascinated by magic, and even though they were designed to be unable to use it, will attempt to steal magical books and artifacts. They can be found everywhere were they find enough prey to sustain their existence. Gremlins generally live in packs as large as their current territory will allow, though they occasionally form large armies to conquer something, no matter of its position or importance, subconsciously following their genetic order to be soldiers and fight against enemies, aka non-gremlins.

Well, as far as I can tell, that's it, so

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	5. Under Siege

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

* * *

Sat Gean was a fortified castle built on a cliff. Although cliff is not an adequate explanation, as in reality, the edge it was built upon was known as Heaven's Cut, as it looked like the land had just been cut off, letting the ocean fill the gap. The grass grew right to the edge, meaning that one could easily fall if careless.

The castle itself had been built in a small artificially extended bulge, meaning it was halfway above the abyss, protecting part of the sides from assault. It was crafted entirely from gray stone and looked like a gray cube with a large tower sticking out of the top. Essentially, it was a giant walled tower. Said tower was the heart of Sat Gean, and really the only structure within the walls, with a base of 538 square feet, or fifty square meters. The tower itself narrowed towards the top, the top floor serving as a lighthouse with a magical flame that could be seen from many miles away.

The outer wall was fifteen meters, or roughly fifty feet high, seventy meters, or 230 feet long on every side, five bridges connecting each wall with the tower. A shallow, dry moat separated the grass and the curtain wall, and a number of ballistas were installed on the walls.

Unfortunately, Sat Gean had been built in a time when the population feared an invasion from across the sea, perhaps lured by the light that was meant to be an orientation for human and elven sailors, since dwarves, gnomes and halflings don't like to travel over water. This meant that most of the ballistas were set at the seaside and sea-facing halves of the sides of the walls, where they would be of little use for the defense of the fortress. There were seven ballistas pointing towards land, but compared to the twenty on the other side, that didn't feel like much.

-0-

In this fortified castle Naruto found himself, looking into worried faces. He could understand why. Him included, there were 113 defenders, and another 27 civilians hired as cooks, cleaners and the like, counting the six that had arrived in their carts, meaning that if push came to shove, 140 people would be fighting for their lives, against more than ten times their number.

The flames had run out of fuel going forward, and were now slowly burning their way closer to the the walls, the army of gremlins following at a respectful distance. Without counting the steadily-growing number, Naruto could tell there were a LOT. The only upsides the defenders had was that Naruto had said none of his clones had been dispelled, meaning that they were still all running towards knight-headquarters, and that they had something that all archers dreamed of, infinite ammo.

-0-

Hagwin had the one that come up with that. He had walked to Naruto roughly an hour after they had entered the fortress. "Naruto, I have a question."

Naruto looked up. "What is it?"

Hagwin nodded towards the wagons that were currently being emptied. "Back when you manned the wagons, your doppelgangers all had the same clothes and stuff that you did."

Naruto nodded. "Yes, the... spell creates perfect images, only much more fragile than the original."

Hagwin bit his lip. "Say if we strapped a coat filled with arrow-bundles to you, would that also be copied?"

Naruto nodded his head, seeing where the dwarf was going. "I know what you're thinking. Yes, it should copy the arrows, though the arrows too will be fragile, and likely only last one shot. I also don't know if they'll last if the clone that made them dispels."

Cathesian had looked up. "That's perfect! This way, we conserve our real arrows, and the gremlins can't pull them out of corpses and shoot them back at us!"

Naruto nodded. "I have no problem with that, but as I said before, it will only do good until they get shields. From that point on..."

Cathesian shook his head. "They'll get closer. But they can't scale the walls with a shield, or at least not with a proper one. It will be a great help."

At that point, a human rushed at Cathesian and saluted. He was one of the stationed guards. "Father Cathesian, we have a problem. It seems that we are out of siege-oil."

Cathesian jumped up. "WHAT?" Then he calmed himself. "This is not good. If you were running low, then why was there no request for oil with the supplies?"

The man looked down. "Honestly? Because it was never needed. It was used for cooking, or polishing metals, not to mention oiling the doorways. We used the rest in laying the fire."

Cathesian growled. "That's what fat is supposed to be used for. That oil is only for emergencies, like now, and you wasted it. It would have been a large help!"

While Cathesian chewed the soldier out, Naruto leaned towards Hagwin. "So, what's so special about the oil?"

Hagwin sighed. "That oil is special. For one, it's slippery, but it sticks good. We pour it into special openings on the top of the walls, where it is distributed evenly, and can be released on command, covering the walls with a layer of oil so slippery not even a gremlin could climb it. And before it dries, we generally set it aflame. It burns slow enough that it heats the walls before going out, making it impossible to touch them for a few more hours, unless it rains. The whole thing is a masterpiece of dwarven masonry. We also heat it in pots and dump it over the wall, to boil attackers standing below, and send a lit arrow down to torch the bastards. It would have bought us time. Without it, I don't know how long we can last, but I fear it won't be two weeks."

Naruto nodded, and looked at the soldier, who had shrunk into a pile of misery under Cathesian's anger. "Is there really not a drop of oil left?"

The soldier looked at him. "Well, there is a bit, but it's not even a single liter. It won't last for anything."

Naruto frowned. "Can you fill it into a wine-skin or something else that I could wear?"

Cathesian's eyes, closed in what could only have been despair, snapped open. "You think it's possible?"

Naruto shrugged. "I hope so. But it will be different from the arrows. Those can be stacked, meaning that I could probably make well over a hundred arrows with one clone. But with this, every clone has only as much oil as we have, and not even I can endlessly call upon them. This spell I use is labeled forbidden in my world, because the drain is so high that it can kill the user. I am special, as my reserves are far beyond normal, but calling upon too many clones is risky for me as well, as I have to make my chakra last for two weeks. In the past, I have slept days on end to recover, but that is not an option here. But I hope that it'll work."

No need to worry the others with the possibility that the oil might poof away when lit, or worse, when heated. As a liquid, there was little anyone could do to it using force, but the heat might be too much.

-0-

It had taken well over a hundred clones, that had then been sent to the walls, but they had managed to get enough oil to load the defenses, but with a bit of experimentation, Naruto sagged in relief when a drop of clone-oil burned and boiled instead of poofing.

The decision was made to only use the ballistas, as their ammunition was limited, when there was no other choice, and that archers and clone-axethrowers would be the main offense.

Cloned arrows in small barrels had been set along the wall, allowing the archers that would man the walls to quickly restock without losing anything.

There had been a short dispute when Celia asked for a bow, but it had ended peacefully.

-0-

Celia appeared on the bridge, a bow in hand.

Cathesian jumped up. "Sister Celia, what are you doing? You know the rules of our order!"

Celia nodded her head. "Yes Father Cathesian, the rules say that the only weapon a paladin may carry into their missions is their hammer. And I have only carried my hammer into this mission. This is a borrowed weapon for the defense of Sat Gean. I will return it as soon as the danger has passed. Father, our options here are limited. We both know that we elves are gifted with a bow, and every hand is needed. We cannot throw our hammers, as we would not be able to retrieve them, and our enemy is not phased by our magic, which is also limited. I am not willing to wait until the gremlins scale the walls before acting."

Cathesian looked at her, apparently torn between scolding her and nodding his his head. Finally, he made a decision. "Are there any spare bows? For the duration of this siege, it seems that we indeed need to bend that law slightly. However, this is a one-time-only occasion, do you understand?"

Celia saluted. "Of course Father."

-0-

So here they stood, looking at the flames as they began to die out, and the army of gremlins, that had shown up, albeit staying out of arrow's range.

Cathesian frowned. "That's not good."

Naruto looked up. "What?"

Hagwin answered in the elf's stead. "The gremlins can't cross through the fire, and they'll probably wait another hour to be sure that the ashes have cooled, but normally they'd be as close as the heat allows them. That they stay out of our range means that the ones leading them are smarter than the usual gremlin. They may actually have some strategy, primitive as it will be. That makes them more dangerous."

Naruto nodded. All he had to know was that battle was ahead, and that none of his clones had dispelled yet. Hopefully.

-0-

Meanwhile, Naruto's clones reunited at the castle. "Finally." One muttered, holding the head of a gremlin away from him, as it had begun to reek.

They knocked against the gate. A door was opened, and a hobbit looked out. "You're being expected."

The clones nodded and followed the halfling, who led them directly to Marius.

"I am surprised." The General stated. "Why have you returned so soon? And where are the others?"

The lead-clone threw the heads to the general's feet. "This is why we have come. The others are at the castle, together with my real self. It is under siege."

Now Marius looked up. Wait, were these images suggesting that the doppelganger-spell the boy could cast could be supplied with mana even at this distance? Or that the doppelgangers were not reliant on mana after they were called? But another matter was more pressing. "Under siege? By gremlins? How many?"

The clones frowned. "You see, when one of us dispels, it sends the information it had to the others, so we have a bit of news on the situation. The fortress... Sad gram?"

"Sat Gean." Marius corrected.

The clone nodded. "Sat Gean, then. Well, it is under siege by gremlins. The defenders have set the grasslands ablaze, though the last clone that dispelled an hour ago saw that the fire was burning out, so the attack will probably start soon. Including the ones that guarded the caravan, there are 113 trained warriors protecting, plus 27 others that will probably fight for their lives, but not much else. The gremlins on the other hand have an army with them. There were no clear images, as what we saw in the grasslands was only a glimpse, while in the fort distance and the smoke blocked our view, but I can say that there are over a thousand of them, maybe even two-thousand or more. I might be able to give more precise information once the fighting started. Either way, they're outmanned and outgunned, and already had to improvise some defenses. We clones have been sent in a call for help, as without backup, they are lost."

Marius's expression turned grim. "I will have to ask you to wait a bit. In light of these news, there are things that need be organized."

Another clone stepped up. "Sir? Since there are over twenty clones, perhaps one could dispel, so that the defenders know that help is on the way."

Marius looked up. Indeed, he knew from personal experience that uncertainty whether or not help arrived could be just as crushing as an overwhelming enemy, and according to these clones, Sat Gean faced both. Also, the knowledge that help was coming, no matter if it wouldn't be for weeks or months, had encouraged soldiers to fight harder in the past. And that sometimes was all it had needed. After all, the attacker had to vanquish, the defender merely had to survive. "Do so." He stated, before leaving.

One of the clones nodded, and poofed into smoke.

-0-

Naruto looked up, a grin on his face. "They made it." He whispered.

Cathesian, who was standing a few feet away from him, looked up. "Something wrong?"

Naruto grinned wider. "Quite the opposite. One of my clones just dispelled. At their destination. The knights know of the situation, and I'll create and dispel a clone regularly to keep them updated."

Cathesian stared, then he smiled. "That is good news." He wanted to call it out, but such behavior would be unworthy of an elf.

Hagwin of course had no such thoughts. "LISTEN UP! WE JUST GOT NEWS THAT OUR MESSENGER HAS DELIVERED THE NEWS OF THESE BASTARDS! SO HANG ON LADDIES, HELP IS ON THE WAY!"

Cathesian frowned at the dwarf. "While I agree it was needed, I would have preferred a bit more tact."

Hagwin snorted. "Tact me backside. We needed good news long-ear, and we needed it bad."

Cathesian narrowed his eyes at the title, but turned towards the gremlins. "They're coming. WEAPONS READY!"

The archers readied their arrows, while Hagwin and the Naruto-clones pulled out axes, bows resting next to the blonds. Since Naruto and his clones were not as good with bows, they would basically shoot on good luck once the axes were used up. Hagwin had stockpiled on clone-axes and looked able and willing to throw forever.

-0-

The mass of gremlins started moving forward in a motion that looked sluggish, but was actually incredibly fast, screeching and screaming that the blood would freeze in lesser men's veins. The swordwielders were up front, rushing to quickly reach and climb the walls, while the archers were a few paces behind, to not get caught in the first volleys of enemy fire. When they were only a hundred yards away, the defenders fired.

Axes and arrows rained down from the walls, mowing down the first lines instantly. Other gremlins climbed over the corpses of their brethren, only to be struck down a few feet further by a whirling axe or a loosened arrow. The whole maneuver was just one big dying, as the defenders fired at the running gremlins, who were paying every foot they gained with blood and corpses.

The elves shot as much as three aimed arrows per second, while the rest was slower, but no less determined. For a moment, it looked like the wall of gremlins would collapse, then "ARROWS! TAKE COVER!"

Clones and real beings ducked and pressed themselves against the capstones, arrows hitting against the rock like rain, and with the same success. When the hail died down and the defenders were free to shoot once more, the sword-wielders had closed the distance to up to thirty yards.

Now the fire had to be split. The elves and some others began shooting at the archers, while the rest desperately tried to keep the gremlins away, though they could only slow the advance.

When the distance had shrunk to the point where the archers were practically shooting straight down, Cathesian, who had been declared temporary leader, gave the sign. "RELEASE THE OIL!"

A lever was pushed, and oil seeped down the walls, covering them with a thin but slippery layer, before slowly pooling in the moat, costing gremlins that had believed themselves close their balance, making them easy targets. One, who had been the fastest and already five feet up the wall when the oil reached him, clung on, unwilling to let go. Then he dropped to the floor, a knife embedded in his skull before it popped away.

Boiling oil was poured down, both to hit the gremlins and to heat up the moat, to keep other gremlins from entering.

The gremlin-archers had rushed to the fallen, and piled up the corpses to small mounds they used as cover as they shot.

Still, the defense held strong. Hours passed, and not one gremlin had climbed the walls. However, there was one oddity. The gremlins were carrying sharpened stakes of metal, longer than what would be useful as spears. They delivered these stakes to the walls, sometimes sacrificing three gremlins to do so, and rammed them into the ground, the sharp ends pointing up.

After putting a layer of spears around the castle, enough room between them to dash, the gremlins seemed to renew their efforts to reach the top of the wall, climbing on top of each in an effort to reach.

Looking at the sinking sun, which almost vanished behind the horizon, Cathesian looked at the nearest archer, the human knight that now had two scars where the arrow had pierced his neck. "Set it ablaze."

The archer nodded, muttered an incantation, and quickly shot the burning arrow into the moat before it could poof away.

The oil was instantly ignited. Gremlins that had waded up to their knees, or even fell into the moat cried out as the flames consumed them. The gremlins trying to climb the wall, also soaked in oil, turned to cinders with agonized howls as the flames consumed them, before spreading across the walls, making any attempt to climb them suicide.

The rain of arrows on both sides trickled out, gremlins were running back, grabbing a fallen comrade, others making a dash to grab the other corpses away from the flame. Those that were still able to fight would be healed, the corpses and fatally injured eaten.

The first day of battle was over.

-0-

Celia leaned against the wall, rubbing her fingers. She had been shooting nonstop, and it had left its marks. Still, for now it had been worth it. She had killed at least ten herself, and wounded many others. Still, looking at the army of monsters they had barely scratched them. She looked around. Naruto and Hagwin were next to her, Evan and his buddies close by. "How many do you think we killed?"

Evan shrugged. "A hundred? 120? More? In any case, they still have many times that number. Looking at the army, I would estimate their numbers in the high two-thousands, and that doesn't include the ones that might still come."

Naruto looked up. "You think there will be more?"

Cathesian nodded. "This is the main-army, but they are all mere armed men. There will be others that couldn't travel so fast, because they bring heavy equipment, like shields, battering-rams and, if we're unlucky, maybe even catapults."

Naruto looked at the wall. "Would those be a danger to us?"

Hagwin nodded. "Aye. While there's little the bastards can do ta dwarf-made walls, their shots can crush us on them, or simply knock us off the walls. Also, the wall we're on is the weakest."

"Because of the small numbers of ballistas?" One of Evan's friends, Jonathan, asked.

Hagwin shook his head. "That too, but the problem is, when Sat Gean's walls were built, we started here, and built it the dwarven way. But when this wall was complete and the walls ta our sides were halfway done, a human came to inspect. We dwarves don't need thick walls around our castles, as we know their strength. The wall was only three feet wide, and while that is more than enough for a dwarf, in human-standards, it was not good enough. So the builders made the other walls thicker, widening them ta the ten feet you see now. The problem is, the widening of the completed walls was not done by dwarves, but by men. The elves then further enchanted the walls to make them more even. For the dwarven walls, that means that their now so even that not even the gremlins could find hold ta climb, which is why the seaside-wall wasn't guarded. But the wall we're standing on is mainly human-made, meaning that the critters can scale them, and that the catapult could break parts out until they reach dwarven stone. That's also the reason we aren't jumping up and down shouting 'HOT, HOT!' yet."

After that, everyone looked towards the rock beneath their feet, the expressions rather unhappy.

Lucien, the final member of their little circle, looked over the capstones and down into the burning inferno. "Anyone know what the metal stakes are supposed to do?"

Celia nodded. "I've heard about them before. It's a gremlin-maneuver in sieges known as the Spear-ring. The basic idea is simple. If they can throw someone off the wall, then the poor soul is definitely dead, and ready for plucking. This means that whoever the leading gremlin is, he's not as stupid as most of his brethren. Now that they have tested our defense, I doubt they will attack again in daylight before they have shields. Ambushes by night are a different story, but until they have shields, I think they won't try a full charge again."

Evan snorted bitterly. "Another day of tension before we get overrun."

Naruto bopped him upside the head. "Wrong. Another day of rest until we cut them to pieces. Look on the bright side, once we get out of here, we'll be heroes."

Evan grinned. "Not quite. You'll be a hero. We will be heroes of the Order."

Naruto frowned. "There's a difference?"

Jonathan nodded. "Hero is a title for individuals that done great deeds for their own reasons. Adventurers and mercenaries can hope to become heroes. We all serve, whether as paladin, knight or soldier. Knights and paladins who do great deeds will be awarded the title of 'Hero of the Order of X', depending on if he serves the paladins or the Equitatus Magicus. Those that serve as soldiers will be awarded the title of 'Hero of X', the exact title depends on where he serves and where he comes from. Those that do great deeds in the war against the evil races may be awarded with the title 'Hero of the Holy War', no matter who he is."

Naruto shook his head at the complexity of what was a fairly simple business back home. "You've made an entire system out of this hero-thing." He was more used to 'do something great, and you will be known as hero.'

Shortly after that, the defenders fell asleep, fire, hot rock and an army of clones patrolling the walls keeping them safe from any surprise-attacks.

-0-

The next morning came late, the sky cloudy. Cathesian looked at the dark clouds in worry. "Pray to Valir that it doesn't rain. The stone should be too hot to climb for a few more hours if it stays dry, but with rain, they could attack at any time."

Naruto nodded. "Though I don't think that they'll attack again before they have shields. It was a massacre last time, it would be one this time."

"Because they couldn't climb the walls. This time they could." Cathesian noted, a slight accusation in his voice.

"I apologize, but I am not sure how deep my reserves go, and until I do, I can't risk draining myself dry. I'm sorry, but I'm no help if I faint." Naruto calmly replied. He looked at the gremlins and frowned. One would think it was because of the army, but the reason for Naruto's frown was something different. He was changing.

It was rather subtle, but his thoughts had changed. He had found that he no longer sought the fleeting attention of many, but preferred the friendship of few. He was also more calculating, weighing different options before rushing in. For that reason he had decided not to show that he could walk over water or up any solid surface, because too many people he didn't trust would see. That same instinct was also telling him to downplay just how much chakra he had available. He also had weird flashes, random strings of images, sounds and thoughts going through his head at odd times, and he was having weird dreams. None of it made sense, but somehow Naruto got the feeling it was important. He also maintained great amounts of skepticism when someone spoke of the monstrosity of the Evil Races, while the past him would have eaten the propaganda up. He himself knew best just how false a label could be, so he would reserve judgment until he actually met those races. The gremlins he hated, but in this case it was more that they were an artificial race bred for senseless killing and meaningless slaughter, and that he had met them personally.

Still, those critters were dangerous. Once they had shields, the second charge would begin. He had sword and axe prepared, Hagwin had polished his permanently-sharp mythril-axe, Celia and the other paladins had ensured that their hammers could swiftly be drawn, and the knights and soldiers had prepared shields in addition to their weapons, not against arrows, but as a defense for when the walls would be breached.

Make no mistake, there was enough oil prepared in the wall to set it ablaze, and ensure that nobody climbed it, but with the threat of rain, they did not want to risk it being washed off, seeing that it really was the last of the cloned oil.

Eyes nervously wandered up to the darkened sky, and the emerald flames flickering on the top of the tower, signaling to all that could see it that Sat Gean was in need of aid.

However, the evening would pass into night, with the walls being lit aflame, without a single gremlin close enough for an arrow to strike. Another day over, another day closer to aid. By now the support might already be organized, and was starting its journey towards them.

-0-

The sixth morning was the bleakest one so far. The walls were blackened by the sud of the fires that had burned on them, and still hot enough to make everyone who considered scaling them make a very uncomfortable experience, the defenders were up and armed, the clone-army bolstered by a few fresh members to pick up the slack that was bound to have dropped in the old ones, and new oil had been filled into the walls, so that the night would once again be safe.

However, there had been a change in the gremlin-army as well. Crude wagons had arrived, filled with even cruder shields, which had been distributed to the newest batch of attackers. It was clear that today would not be a day of rest and waiting.

Fittingly, it began to dribble. As if that had been the awaited signal, the gremlins charged, armed with shield and sword, or spear.

The rain slowly upped in intensity as the wave of screeching monstrosities approached. Then the defenders fired.

The line of gremlins wavered slightly as a few of the first line fell, having held the large shields too low to protect their heads, arrows and axes mercilessly aiming for those holes and other gaps, but this time, the shields blocked the majority of the shots. The gremlins were not dumb enough to waste this chance, and charged as fast as they could without breaking up their shielding barrier.

In less than a minute, the procession had reached the walls, mostly intact if one didn't count the ones that slipped on the muddying ground and were quickly picked off by the archers above. New stakes were raised to tighten the ring around the castle, then the climbing began.

Fortune however favored the defenders, as rain and sud had mixed into a lubricant of its own, keeping the gremlins from scaling the walls at the speed they had intended. Also, the shields were too bulky to be carried up, and the defenders fell into a pattern that had been discussed the evening before. The clones would continue to pepper the approaching army with axes and arrows as good as they could, while the real people would aim for those that had reached the walls, each backed by a clone equipped with a shield to prevent any loss of balance, and block incoming arrows that would be missed by those who were busy looking down.

As the day continued, the rain fell harder, muddying the ground further, but also slowly washing off the sud that had worked as a makeshift-oil, and the gremlins were beginning to gain a hold on the walls. Instead of at the base, gremlins were shot down at heights that actually sufficed for them to be skewered by their ring. The gremlins were slowly but steadily gaining ground, smarter individuals using smaller shields or even their dead comrades as protection.

And eventually the elves, men, dwarves and halflings changed from bows to spears and special poles that had serrations on the upper shaft to prevent the enemy from ripping them out of the defenders' hands. Especially popular was a pole that had a sharpened round plate attached to it for larger area of impact, a long iron thorn in the center of the plate, where it met the pole. Then they actually used their close-range weapons to knock the gremlins away, as they were simply getting too close for the spears to be effective. Hammers, axes and swords pushed, pounded, stabbed and cut away at the horde that was hanging to the walls like vines, the occasional spear or arrow trying to prevent the inevitable.

The first gremlin that went over the rail separating attackers and defenders while protecting the legs of latter from arrows was dumb enough to jump high, resulting in a well-aimed axe knocking him back and onto a waiting stake. The second to tenth were dispatched quickly, but number eleven set his feet on the wall before he could be slain. At that point, the order began to break into chaos, even with the rain finally ceasing.

-0-

The gremlins that charged the wall met a prepared force of opposition. The knights and soldiers held shields with sharpened edges out, a sword in the other poised like a scorpion's tail. The gremlins were rammed with the shields, stabbed with the swords, and then heaved over the wall with a quick raising of the shield.

Fortunately, gremlins, while having excellent vision, did not use their eyes when choosing targets. They used their noses, and their innate ability to sense magic, so that they could determine the greatest threat on the battlefield. When they climbed the walls, they noted two things about the clones. One, they didn't smell. They had absolutely no scent whatsoever. Second, their senses were telling them that these things consisted of nothing but magic. No flesh, no bone, just a mass of magic. Gremlins had met constructs purely made of magic before, the only constructs entirely of magic, not involving light or some element were illusions.

As such, despite the fact that they should know better, they completely ignored all clones, focusing on the beings with flesh, scent and heartbeat. Which, since the clones responded in kind, resulted in a situation in which gremlins reached the top of the wall, only to ignore those that had been happily shooting at them along the way, and aimed for the real people. Occasionally a clone would ram a axe into a gremlin that got too close, but in whole, the army of clones was shooting at the ones that tried to climb up despite the fact that the ground, soaked by rain and blood, made walking a perilous task.

Which also aided the defenders, as with the mud and the clones, less gremlins were getting up than would have if the clones were destroyed and the ground was dry.

Still, as it always happens, the orderly fashion of defense was soon broken up into a wild and chaotic skirmish on the walls, with gremlins attacking all that wasn't, and the defenders attacking all that had a certain skin-pigmentation.

-0-

Naruto looked around. Really, did the command actually think that their little plan could work for long? This formation was doomed for failure the moment it was suggested. For one thing, not all had shield and bladed weapon, the paladins again only with their hammers. Bows Cathesian had accepted, but at shields he had put his foot down, much to Naruto's chagrin. The second problem was that there were dwarves and halflings in the ranks of the knights, making the entire formation unstable. Of course things would spiral out of control!

While he pondered the idiocy of military strategists and the stubbornness of certain paladins, he swung his sword in his right hand, keeping his left empty for a quick attack. It seemed that the gremlins had identified him as the greatest danger, and swarmed him en masse. Naruto responded to the horde by almost casually swinging the sword that should be tricky to wield with two hands, the blade mowing down the attackers like grass. Naruto grinned. "Seven at one blow. Sounds like it's out of a fairytale." He glances to the sky. "And just as the sun comes out, almost cliché."

He glanced around, the gremlins apparently now weary of him. To his left was Evan, swinging the sharpened shield and decapitating a gremlin. A few feet further Hagwin was bashing at the incoming horde with gleeful joy, as heads split under his axe's restless dance. On Naruto's right Jonathan seemed to struggle, three gremlins trying to throw him down. Naruto thrusted his sword, skewering two of the attackers. Jonathan shot him a grateful glance, before moving against two enemies that each were much stronger than him.

Three other gremlins had used the opening to jump Naruto, who swung his blade in a wide arc, the two impaled gremlins being used as projectiles as the centrifugal force flung them off the blade and into their brethren, each knocking one over the edge. The last one was now too close for his sword, so Naruto improvised, ducking beneath the swipe, reinforcing his body with chakra, and slamming his fist into the enemy's face. "HA!" Naruto roared.

His fist went through the gremlin's skull, punching a hole into its head. The nearby gremlins froze, "Krashnok" again echoing through their ranks, until they noticed that their enemy had used the pause to wreck havoc. Most fought, though a few heads that popped over the rail were quickly pulled back as their owners scampered back down the wall to report, or simply get away.

"How did you do that?" Evan asked, as he sunk his sword into a lance-wielder's chest.

Cathesian, who was next to Jonathan, answered in Naruto's stead, while ramming the thorn on the hammers hilt into an ear. "He strengthened his body with magic. I didn't know it was possible."

Naruto grinned. "It's not. The reason I can do it is because I produce ch... mana, and my body has a separate circulatory-system to help me distribute it. So sorry, but... HAGWIN!"

The dwarf had been attacked by six gremlins, and though he fought valiantly, the difference in numbers was too much. He was on his back, trying to keep the four gremlins he hadn't slaughtered at bay with a throwing-axe, the larger one too unwieldy in the situation. With a grunt, he sank it into a neck, but two of the survivors pressed his arms down while the third raised its block of steel to slash Hagwin's head open. The dwarf struggled, but the combined strength of the enemies was too much.

Naruto growled, his burning gaze settling on a gremlin with a spear. "GIMME THAT!" He grabbed the spear, giving its owner a vicious kick that catapulted it and the gremlin it slammed into back over the wall, aimed and threw it, only dully noting that he had apparently torn the gremlin's arm from its socket, the limb hanging off the spear like a gruesome decoration.

Just as Hagwin's time seemed up, the spear, pierced the first gremlin's head, going on until the second head is skewered, the pole going through both heads and catching the blow meant for a dwarven head. Never one to waste an opportunity, Hagwin pulled free and used the smaller axe to split the last gremlin's face. As he jumped up, he turned to Naruto. "That's two I owe ye, Naruto. I'll be sure ta pay ye back later."

Naruto nodded. However, he soon noticed that they were getting pushed back. Despite the clones shooting, there was a steady stream of gremlins attacking them, and the humans and halflings were beginning to tire.

"WE'RE LOSING THE WALLS!" Evan cried out.

"NO, WE'RE NOT!" Naruto shouted back. "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_" This move Naruto had carefully calculated. The wall was engulfed in smoke, and in that moment, the freshly-formed clones struck, killing all gremlins, throwing axes and swords at the climbers and vanishing before the cloud had dispersed.

Then Naruto took deep breaths, as if he had just run miles. "The things I'd do for a soldier-pill right about now." He muttered.

The defenders were momentarily stunned, before they cheered and rushed back to the edge, knocking down the gremlins that still climbed the wall, first with swords, then with pikes, and the last ones with bows. The gremlins seemed to be retreating once more, the walls now dry enough to spill oil, though it wasn't ignited yet, as the sun was still up.

-0-

Despite all worry, for the rest of the day, there seemed to be pause. The gremlins had retreated beyond arrow's range, allowing the defenders to rest. A few rushed at the walls under shields, but they only picked up the bodies of their fallen for food, and since nobody had any interest in fighting undead gremlins on top of living ones, they let them. The paladins walked around, healing those that had been injured. All in all, it seemed to be a good day. First day of direct contact with the enemy, and no deaths. There were injuries, a few of them potentially fatal, but nothing that the paladins couldn't heal.

Raphael, the commanding officer of Sat Gean, strolled around like a peacock, seemingly crediting the result of today's events solely to his planning. Fortunately for him, Cathesian moved to chew him out before Naruto had a chance to do so. Shrugging, the boy moved to his friends, who were currently chewing on their rations.

"Yo." He greeted. "Another day down. That makes six. Eight more to go, in the worst case. Everyone alright?"

Evan seemed to want to say something, but shook his head. Celia nodded with a smile. "We're all unharmed. Nobody here was injured."

Jonathan laughed. "Imagine that. A massive fight against the gremlins, and not the newbies, but the veterans get bruised." He looked at Naruto. "Though I owe my health to you, Sir Naruto. You have my gratitude."

Naruto waved him off. "None of that, I have no idea where it came from, but I hold no title. Just call me Naruto." He paused in thought. "I was wondering, who will come help us? The knights or the paladins? I reported to the knights, but if the paladins are closer..."

Lucien shook his head. "You don't seem to understand how it works. Both the knights and the paladins are not armies. We are elite organizations with extremely high standards. There are only 9000 knights and 7000 paladins. There's no way we could keep the entire world safe with just 16.000 fighters. Our Orders are not the army. We get send out for missions, but for most of the casual stuff, dealing with the occasional undead or gremlin, the official army suffices."

Evan nodded. "The continent is separated into different kingdoms. Since the king can't be everywhere at once, there are dukes, earls, barons, and the like to watch over them. Each of them has a military force of their own, generally between 4000 to 50.000 men. The king can gather these troops, as they are his, and each king has a standing army of his own. Putting together, each sovereign can mobilize over one million men if he or she sees the need, the bigger kingdoms more. And that's just with humans. Halflings and gnomes live mostly in human kingdoms, so they are protected by their king, and only have small forces to defend themselves, but elves and dwarves have their own kingdoms, protected by their own troops, who can equally match the human armies. So while the Equitatus will send message and perhaps a squad, the army coming to back us up will consist mostly of the soldiers of the local sovereign, duke Jeremiah Ironwing."

Naruto found the last name odd, but shrugged it off. Then he frowned. "Wait, there's no way that you could fit 9000 men in that castle you call headquarters."

Hagwin nodded. "Aye. Headquarters is manned with roughly 900 men. When not on some mission, most knights reside at Base. Base is actually a fortified town in itself, and most of the knights are there. The reason we call the castle you know headquarters is because it's our order's historical headquarters. It was our first station, and it once really was the spot where we met. Nowadays it's mainly used as a residence for our leaders, it is the place where we young recruits are trained, and it is where we forge the Dark Blades. The Paladins have a similar castle, their original headquarters even smaller than that of us knights. So both orders have a symbolical headquarters and a practical base."

Naruto nodded, his question answered, before asking "So these gremlins are testing our defense. They tried a charge, then they tried a charge with shields. What happens next?"

Celia shrugged. "I don't know. They may try again with how they are, or we're unlucky, they have catapults, and are waiting for them to arrive."

Hagwin shrugged. "While most of the walls are human-made, simple catapults shouldn't be able to do much damage. They simply wouldn't be able to shoot large enough rocks."

Naruto nodded to himself, not convinced. Things were never that easy.

-0-

Naruto was walking up and down the wall, restless. This was not good. This was so not good.

The gremlins had not attacked. Catapults and battering-rams had arrived and were lined up in the early morning, but even though it was long past noon, there was no attack. While the general opinion was 'Thank god.', Naruto was getting an awful feeling.

Few shared his worry, namely Celia, Cathesian, Hagwin, Lucien and Jonathan. Most, Raphael at the front, believed that the gremlins had gotten cold feet and were about to retreat, while Evan admitted that something was fishy, but seemed to think that it was a planned ambush. Naruto on the other hand was convinced that the gremlins had something else, an ace in the hole they were waiting for. The gremlins had seen how thick the walls were, they could not hope to smash them with those pebble-throwers.

The next day would prove him right.

* * *

Chapter 5 is done. Well, my first three weeks at the military, and I have to say, while it still sucks, it's not as bad as I imagined it would be, though the loss of my computer is a harsh blow. Don't worry though, I'm getting a laptop so I can at least occasionally work on my stories, when I have time and creativity.

Well, this, and probably most of next chapter, may not be quite as good, as I'm experimenting on how one writes large-scale battles, but after that things will start up.

Next chapter will be the end of the conflict, and probably some stuffy ceremony of honoring achievements. As I said, perhaps not quite as interesting, but I promise that after that, Naruto will get his first glimpse of the hidden truth, quickly followed by harsh awakenings. Yes, that means more character-interactions and less narrations. I can't guarantee it, but Naruto should be leaving in roughly three to four chapters.

As I said before, in this chapter I am gathering experience on how to write army-battles. The first thing I learned: Sieges are even harder to write interesting, because only one side is really doing anything but waiting. Either way, please tell me how I'm doing.

Now to clarify a few things. First of all, no, Naruto will not be a über-god that knows all five magics. Due to his merge with Kyuubi, the lesser magics of White and Black are beyond him, he is completely incapable of doing them. Ancient Magic is magic that has a close bond to nature, for Naruto, who comes from a completely different world and is merged with a demon, it is impossible to forge the bonds with the spirits of nature that would be needed. Demon Magic yes, for obvious reasons. As for Divine Magic? I haven't decided, since I feel that I need a reason why he should be able to use it, and I haven't found a sufficient one yet.

Second, it's called the war, but as I said before, the Dark Races are being hunted to extinction, so it's not really like there is a united army of darkness that stands against against the assault. So Naruto will actually have to build the army he wants to wield from scratch. He is not just joining a side, he is taking one that only exists on paper and makes it his own.

As for jutsu, Naruto will have only very few of those, just like in canon. That's not to say he won't try and make more, Kyuubi may know some, and of course he may tweak some spells so that their effect resembles that of certain jutsu.

And since people asked what races were already accepted to avoid suggesting the same thing over and over, here is the first draft. There will be more, suggestions are still welcome, these are just the ones I can 100% confirm at this moment.

Dark Races: Dark elves, orcs, trolls, weres (wolf, bear, cat, maybe more), beastfolk (minotaurs, skaven/ratpeople, further suggestions welcome)

Dragons are also confirmed, but they are seen as animals, dangerous ones but still animals, they are not counted as a Dark Race.

In consideration are giants, goblins, nagas, and harpies. I have a few more ideas, but I'd much appreciate suggestions from my readers.

Well, that's all for now,

Please Review


	6. The End of the Siege

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

* * *

Curses rang through the early morning air as Sat Gean's defenders learned why the gremlins had not attacked. They had been waiting for their final war-machine.

"Fuck!" Naruto swore.

"Look at the size of that thing!" Evan called out.

Hagwin was calmer, but no less struck. "I never would have thought that gremlins could build something like this."

What the gremlins had brought had the basic shape of a catapult, or a trebuchet to be more precise, only that it was almost ten times the height of the other catapults. Three-hundred gremlins had been needed to bring it and the giant boulders meant as ammunition to the battlefield, but the sight was frightening.

The trebuchet stood on a giant platform, supported by five large wheels on each side, and four slightly smaller ones built into the platform, though the entire structure could be lowered to the ground for stability. Not only that, but the counter-weight was designed in a way that it could quickly be altered, simply by changing the amount of gremlins latching onto it. The entire structure could probably reach a height of a hundred feet after fired.

The only plus was that it would likely take a few minutes to load, and a few more to reload, seeing that the boulders could hardly be moved by the gremlins themselves.

"If those were trolls, we'd be screwed." Lucien muttered.

"If those were trolls, then we'd be dead by now." Jonathan corrected. "Not to mention they'd be able to use more than one. The trolls would probably throw the the rocks in the small catapults with their bare hands."

Celia shrugged. "Either way, that trebuchet is a danger. Hagwin, can it crush the tower?"

Hagwin shook his head. "Nay. Unless the boulders are charmed to do more damage, which gremlins can't do, then they can't even scratch the tower, or the bridges. Of course, it can crush us all easily. Although I estimate it would take them at least four shots to properly aim, and if they plan to attack, then it won't fire non-stop."

Naruto looked at the jeering horde. The gremlins were going completely nuts, banging their weapons together, screeching like mad, and loading the catapults ridiculously slow. "They'll probably wait a few hours before attacking." Naruto stated.

Evan stared at the blond like he was crazy. "Why should they? They just brought a massive weapon of war against us! With the ones pushing the monstrous machine, they have replaced all gremlins we slaughtered to this point. Why wait?"

Celia shared Naruto's opinion. "They want us to squirm. They want us to wait, and despair, so that we'll be easy pickings. Also, those reinforcements pushed that giant thing. They'll be exhausted. I agree with Naruto's estimate."

Cathesian stepped up. "As do I. In response to this threat, we have decided to man the ballistas. The trebuchet may be too far away, but the catapults are not. Each ballista has fifty bolts ammunition stored, and considering that the rear ballistas are not needed, we can add their bolts to the reserves."

Evan looked back. The ballistas were stationed on small tower-like extensions on the wall's inner side, and roofed. "What if they hit the ballistas?"

Hagwin growled. "The ballistas and their towers are dwarven work. The boulders won't reach the ballistas, the towers will block them, and what the catapults shoot is not enough to destroy them. The bolts and shooters are in more danger."

"The bolts?" Naruto asked.

Hagwin nodded. "Aye. Those are made by humans, though pretty clever ones. There are solid ones, and hollow ones that are already filled with yer oil. It is ignited before firing, and then will burn what it hits. It was designed ta sink ships, but I imagine that those catapults won't like them either."

Naruto nodded. Say what you want, these people were creative.

-0-

Three hours passed before the gremlins actually made a move, but the moment they did, the fighting entered a whole new level of brutal.

"TAKE COVER!"

Surprisingly, it was not the trebuchet, but the small catapults that were fired first. Naruto hazarded a guess that the gremlins didn't want the beginning of the battle to be a shot that missed by a mile. The catapults of course also had a few misses, a great number of them hitting the wall, breaking small chunks out of it, but there were also shots that broke through the headstones, dispelling clones, blasting shrapnel everywhere, and knocking one poor fool from the wall. He screamed the entire way down, though he was fortunate to land in a mountain of garbage that nobody had found the time to throw over the cliff, only breaking a leg and six ribs.

When the first salvo stopped, the gremlin-archers had come close enough to shoot, trying to take advantage of the chaos. But clones are not as easy to shake, so the counter-fire had not stopped. The clones shot arrows and threw axes as fast as they could, hoping to somehow keep the situation at least somewhat in control.

One glanced up to see the boulder of the trebuchet missing the tower by twenty feet, and the wall by fifty, before shrugging and firing his arrow.

However, now the ballistas shot back, three aiming at one of the forty catapults, while the other four simply fired normal bolts into the enemy line, preferably where the archers were.

Six catapults went up in flames before the gremlins got the idea to shoot while pushing the catapults forward, back and to the sides in random patterns. It messed up their own aim, but at least the remaining catapults weren't burning.

Meanwhile, other gremlins once again rushed at the walls, scaling them in a fairly accurate repeat of two days prior, the defenders forcing them back with arrows, polearms and short-range weaponry, a few rocks also hitting the mass of attackers, which was not only very reassuring, but it also dampened the blow and lessened the amount of cracks the rocks made, gremlin-bodies working as puffers.

The second boulder came short, stopping ten feet in front of the ring of spears, crushing another twenty gremlins.

But ignoring these losses, the gremlins once again fought their way up the wall until they finally breached it.

-0-

From a logistic standpoint, the entire siege was just one big loss for the gremlins. In roughly seven and a half days, they had lost over seven-hundred of their number, the numbers leaning towards eight-hundred.

In gremlin-terms, that was the maximum-population of an A-rank hive, the second-biggest, which was incredibly rare, as the gremlins would need more space and nourishment than could be easily hidden. Of course, no troop smaller than at least 1500 men would be sent out to get rid of such a hive, which said a lot about the glory Sat Gean's defenders already had earned at this point.

However, the gremlins had gathered from multiple hives, so even with their current losses, they still had 2400 more soldiers to fight, meaning that they had lost a mere quarter of their number, despite the brutal slaughter the defenders had rained down so far. The catapults and the trebuchet especially were also boosts for the morale, despite the risk they posed for the climbers, were also great success, seeing that the density of arrows had dropped, with people having to jump away and clones popping like soap-bubbles in a hedgehog-race.

Which lead to the inevitable, a desperate and brutal battle, with the occasional boulder scraping over the walls, just to keep things interesting.

-0-

Once again Naruto found himself beating at the ugly critters that were crawling up the walls in a fashion not uncommon with cockroaches, and were just as annoying to get rid off. While the sword cleaved well, there were just too many. Of course, by now most of them were trying to get around him rather than through him, which had proven foolish bordering on suicidal before.

The rocks from the catapults of course showed no such curtsey, forcing him to throw himself to the ground or risk having stone for lunch.

Channeling his inner Shikamaru, Naruto groaned. "Troublesome. Can't these things just go away?" Then he paused. Something was definitely wrong with him. His attitude towards violence was much too calm. He should be sickened, he should be tense, heck, maybe even a little bit excited, but all he felt was... boredom, as if this entire battle was beneath his notice. He didn't feel like a soldier in a war, he felt kinda like an exterminator on a boring day.

BOOOM!

For a second, everyone paused and looked up. The third boulder had hit the tower, and while ancient construct had, just like Hagwin had promised, taken the assault without a single crack, there were two problems. One, the entire fortress including the walls they were fighting on were shaking from the assault.

"THEY HIT THE TOWER!" Evan called out.

'No shit Sherlock, what was your first clue?' Naruto thought, while loudly shouting back. "THE THING IS NOT EXACTLY HARD TO MISS, IS IT? WATCH OUT!"

The second problem was that the boulder shattered on the tower, shooting shrapnel that weighed between thirty pounds and a ton down, sadly also towards the wall.

"Guh..." A forty-pounder grazed Lucien's head, knocking him unconscious and leaving a heavily-bleeding gash on his right temple.

A few clones circled him while Celia, who was dancing around fragments next to him, rushed towards the fallen knight to heal him. She cursed, ignoring her upbringing. It had no place here anyways. "Damn it! The frontal branch is damaged." With this, the boy could be irreversibly damaged in seconds, dead in less than a minute. "Valir, let this work. _Oh wanderer, guardian of the pilgrim's patron, hear my plea. For this fallen one I ask your aid, that the blindness of death may be taken from his eyes. Bind which has been severed, mend what has been torn. In the name of heaven's light and the kindness of the creator, I beg thee to bestow upon this lost soul the _**Touch of Raphael.**"

White light broke out from her palm, and the wound began to close. Celia send a prayer of gratitude to all gods present for aiding her, as she had seen the damaged blood-vessel close first, the healing flesh pushing the remaining blood out of the body so it wouldn't clot in Lucien's body. The **Touch of Raphael** was the strongest healing-spell she knew, and as she had intoned the full incantation rather than a shortened one, the effect would be even greater. The catch was that it was a major drain to her reserves. Still, a comrade's life was worth more than some mana.

After the wound had healed to a faint scar, Celia pushed the still unconscious Lucien into the arms of a Naruto-clone. "Take him into the tower. There's a paladin on standby for healing, let him have a look at Lucien, I'm not sure I got everything."

The clone nodded and ran off, while Celia swung her hammer into the head of a gremlin that had tried to use the distraction of the healing, grinning when she heard the CRUNCH of breaking bone. It seemed that training with Naruto had done her a lot of good. She was more fluent in her movements, and strangely a lot more willing to end the fight as quickly as she could than before, when she might have insisted on something like an honorable duel.

'Still, it could be worse.' She mused, before throwing herself back into the battle.

-0-

Hagwin was having the time of his life. His axe was in constant motion, the symphony of cut air and severed limbs a sweet melody in his ears. Like many dwarves, Hagwin had the gift of being able to let his mind wander while his body fought as good, if not better, as if he was focused. Humans called such a thing berserker, if memory served correctly. For the dwarf, the situation was simple. There were enemies climbing over the walls, his job was to make sure they didn't live to tell the tale. He only had to keep an eye on two things. One, the enemy, for obvious reasons, and second, the Naruto-clones, since they would give him a heads-up for when he should take cover from the catapults, and they were blocking arrows with shields. The more he thought about it, the happier he was to have a brother-in-arms like Naruto. The boy was loyal to his friends, fun to be around, a good drinker, and he preferred the dwarven axe over the elven bow.

On the topic of elves, his sister-in-arms was also doing well. With her, Hagwin was not quite sure. She was an elf, which was practically the end of any friendship, but there were a few redeeming qualities despite this glaring fault. For one, she at least used a decent weapon, could hold her liquor, and was surprisingly a lot less arrogant than her brethren. Hagwin accredited that to her youth and innate stubbornness. She was a likeable person, for an elf, and two-hundred years had not been enough to drill that out of her. The most important reason why Hagwin didn't hate her had to do with her drinking.

They had sworn comradeship to each other, over the tankard no less, and as every dwarf knew, a vow over the tankard was every bit as binding as an oath to the gods. Dwarves had been declared fatherless in the past for breaking such vows, and the most outrageous tasks had been accomplished. Almost half of all dragons slain by dwarves had been slain because a dwarf had promised to do so over the tankard, but that was a different story.

A call interrupted his pondering. "Hagwin, left! Go left!"

The dwarf obeyed, dashing left, impaling a gremlin's neck with the axe's spike while he was at it, just in time to avoid being crushed by a rock that plowed through the capstones and left a gash on the even ground, before tumbling down into the empty courtyard.

"Thanks!" He called out, before pulling his axe free and disarming a particularly ugly gremlin that looked like half his face was molten. And that was not referring to his weapon. After finishing it off, he grinned. "That's the twenty-third today."

Yes, it was immature, but the elf had said she could kill more than him, and no dwarf worth his beard would ever let that slide.

-0-

The next few minutes were the kind that nobody remembers in the heat of battle, a whirlpool of stabbing, bludgeoning, blocking and dodging, but what happened next would most likely never be forgotten by those present.

-0-

Naruto jumped over a swipe aimed at his knees and decided to put the uncomfortable shoes to some use. He kicked the attacker in the face, the metal-point digging through flesh and bone as effortlessly as a hot branding-iron through a snowbank. He was just pulling his foot free, when everyone on the wall, human, elf and gremlin, were suddenly fighting for their balance.

BOOOOOM

The fourth boulder had been fired, and unlike the previous three, which had done next to nothing, this one slammed into the lower part of the wall, breaking large chunks out and shaking the entire thing to a point that all fighting ceased, simply because there were not enough people standing to fight.

Ten seconds later, the shaking stopped. The few that were still on their feet, namely Naruto, most of the elves, and a few gremlins, looked around to make sure it was over. Then...

Crack... crack... crack... CRACK... RUMBLE

It almost resembled a sigh when part of the wall collapsed, to be precise, ten feet of the human-made thickening of the walls broke off to reveal the dwarven wall.

Naruto watched in a horrible trance as Celia waved her arms in an attempt to keep her balance, her eyes wide with fear, before the ground gave way and simply pulled her with it in its descent to the ground.

Naruto's hand let go of the sword. He dimly recalled backhanding a gremlin, before he was at the capstone, throwing a few gremlins down with the sheer ferocity of his charge. Celia was still falling, now only five feet away from a pike that would end her life. His right arm was clutching the capstone, his left outstretched in a helpless gesture, trying to reach the woman that was too far away to be reached. There was no time for conscious thought, he had to save her...

A bolt of blue shot out of his arm, widening at the tip to form a giant hand that encased Celia and stopped her fall less than an inch from where the tip of the pike had been, not that it mattered now, seeing that the blue hand had broke it.

Without really knowing what was going on, Naruto pulled his arm back, the blue extension receding back into the actual limb, pulling Celia back to safety. Once she was close enough, he grabbed her with both hands and pulled her in a hug that dented her armor, before giving her a critical look. "Are you okay?"

Celia was completely baffled. She had just about finished with her life, and now this. "How did you...?" She started, but couldn't find words to describe it.

Naruto smiled ruefully. "Long story." Then he noticed a catapult-fired boulder was on a collision-course with them. His first thought was to dodge, but before he could act on it, that primal energy that was still flowing through him had decided on a different solution. He took a deep breath, his chest swelling like a balloon.

"ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRR!"

The boulder shattered, the wall vibrated, gremlins halfway over the wall were knocked back down by the shockwave of that roar, which sent a simple message that the gremlins perfectly understood: "I am the alpha. I am the strongest. Is there anyone here who challenges this claim?"

The gremlins were frozen. The defenders were frozen. Nobody dared move a single muscle. Then, in an almost panicked fashion, the gremlins in Naruto's vicinity began to flee, while those further away also seemed to back away, slowly as to not gain the attention of the beast in their midst.

Naruto ignored the chaos, and after making sure Celia was alright, he looked around, before spotting Evan, who was closest. "Evan!" He called out.

The soldier jumped as if he had been set on fire, before hastily answering. "Y-y-yes?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, before pointing at the trebuchet. "We need to get rid of that thing!"

Evan blinked, apparently reassuring himself that Naruto was not about to kill him, and nodded. "I'm open to suggestions!"

Naruto thought about it, before he had an idea. "Shoot a fireball!"

Evan glanced at the war-machine, which looked like it was a hundred miles away. "It'd never reach!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Not at them, at me!" He called out, while forming a _Rasengan_ in his hand.

Evan's eyes widened as he understood. He frowned in concentration. **Fireball** was such an easy spell that nobody bothered with the full incantation, so he needed a second to recall it. "_Oh fire, hear my call. Gather before me oh flames, so that our enemy will burn in the blazes of this_ **Fireball**!"

A ball of fire twice as large as the one from training rushed at Naruto, who had also pumped more chakra into his jutsu. As the two powers collided, the _Rasengan_ once again absorbing the flames, darkening, while at the same time giving off an almost blinding glow. Naruto aimed, hoped for the best, and threw the unstable orb.

-0-

The ball shot like fired from a cannon, and all heads followed it as it shot towards the trebuchet. Gremlins on the wall watched mesmerized, while a few of the more clever defenders quietly offed them, as the orb got closer and closer to the trebuchet.

Apparently Naruto's aim had been a little off. He had aimed for the joint of the trebuchet, but the orb hit the platform it was standing on instead, though right at the center. For a second there was silence, then...

SWOOOSH

The spinning pillar of fire was back, only this time much larger, completely engulfing the trebuchet and all gremlins less than thirty feet away. After five seconds, the pillar dissipated, to reveal that all that was left of the former destructive war-machine was ashes, embers, and a few halfway-molten boulders. However, those that thought is was over were in for a hefty wake-up call.

The knights knew what was coming, having seen this before on a smaller scale, and rumors of Naruto's abilities had spread through to the soldiers and paladins, so they all reacted correctly by raising their shields above their heads, the paladins ducking under shields held up by other fighters or clones.

The gremlins had no idea what was coming, and even if one told them, they would have assumed that 'Fire Rain' would be a spell they were immune to. They had no way of knowing that the White Magic they were resistant to was to this attack no more than matches were to a campfire, the role of the main fuel was being done by Naruto's chakra, aka Neutral Magic.

So when the rain fell over the entire battlefield, some of it actually reaching the walls, the gremlins were woefully unprepared. Screams of anguish rang through the afternoon-air, and the smell of burnt and burning flesh filled the battlefield.

The once organized formations shattered under the burning rain, the gremlins scampering beneath shields, corpses, or anything else that gave them cover. On the walls, the only shields that could provide cover were in the possession of the defenders, who were quite insistent on keeping them.

After precisely forty-five seconds, it was over. Of the once forty enemy catapults, thirteen could be saved, and five salvaged to make two new ones. The rest were too badly burnt. The gremlins retreated almost immediately afterwords, and the few that were sent back for bodies did not look happy, even though they were granted free passage to the corpses and back.

Thankfully the oil-distribution was a dwarven invention, and located in the dwarven walls, so it could still be used, despite the broken wall, not that it was needed.

That day's assault had been the most catastrophic for the gremlins. While they had lost 800 in all of the past charges, this day had cost them the trebuchet, twenty-five catapults, and over 1000 gremlins. This day was a disaster for gremlinkind. However, now they were prepared, and would run and take cover should another orb fall. Perhaps this orb was a magical object that the gremlins could steal and use for themselves.

-0-

Naruto sat away from the celebrations. It seemed that ignorant imbecile believed the war already won with this, and had granted a larger provision, and even a bit of alcohol. Naruto wasn't invited, because most were afraid of his outburst, but he wouldn't have come anyways. He had too much to think about.

Something was definitely going on here. There was only one time where he had those superlimbs, and that had been when he had been in the chakra-cloak. On the topic of odd, why did he know what that thing was called? Anyways, the arm that saved Celia had been blue, meaning it was his chakra and not Kyuubi's, but why had he been able to do it? Not to mention that roar. It was more than just a loud shout, there was something primal in it. Something he didn't understand.

His musings were interrupted when his ears reported two sets of steps approaching him. Hagwin and Celia had come to look after their friend.

The dwarf spoke first. "Well Naruto, that was officially the most incredible thing I've seen in me life. So that's yer real power?"

'Not even close' A voice in Naruto's head whispered, but he suppressed it. "Pretty much. I only used those things once before, and they were not good for my body. After a few minutes of using those... mana-limbs, I couldn't move or even feel my left arm anymore. Still, I'm glad it worked."

Celia blinked at this news, before a hesitant smile spread across her face, which wasn't used to such expressions. "I am too. I owe you my life Naruto, for that you have my gratitude."

Naruto grinned. "No problem, what else are friends for?"

Celia looked like she wanted to say something, but shrugged. Instead she looked past the burning walls to where the gremlins had to be. "Raphael thinks that they'll retreat." She finally stated.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Raphael has been dropped on his head too often. We scared them, granted, and they will need a while to reorganize themselves, hopefully a few days, but there is no way that they'll give up now. They lost too much to end it without vengeance."

Hagwin looked over the wall. "Aye. While cowardly, gremlins are also very proud. They were bred with the belief that while retreating is possible, defeat is not an option. They will attack again, the only question is when."

Celia nodded her head. "Definitely not today. The oil is already burning, and the gremlins are too frightened of flames to try it now. Probably not tomorrow either. The loss was too great, they won't be able to organize an assault in such little time."

Naruto snorted bitterly. "Good. That way we have time to beat the drunks sober before they strike."

-0-

And Celia's prediction came true. The gremlins did not retreat, but they did not attack the following day either. By now the tenth day had dawned, and their reinforcement had to be nearly here, but the gremlins seemed determined to end it as fast as they could.

The remaining catapults were stationed back into firing-range, and the gremlins charged the walls once more, in great number.

Many charged towards the broken section of the wall, hoping to use the weakness that it could only be defended by one, who didn't have much space to move. Unfortunately for them, it just so happened that the ones guarding that section were Hagwin, who as a dwarf had more than enough space on the dwarven wall, Celia, who with elven grace danced over the limited space, using every inch available for her assaults, and Naruto, who was as moveable as a mountain as he simply stood and slaughtered all that were foolish enough to enter his range.

For a few hours, the battle, while brutal and bloody, was very plain. Four of the ballistas were damaged beyond use, while the gremlins lost nine catapults. Twelve defenders had to be pulled back into the fortress by Naruto's clones due to heavy injuries, but the gremlins were falling like flies against the determined defenders.

Then something unexpected interrupted the tranquility of slaughter.

-0-

Naruto had just relieved a gremlin of his torso, when his head snapped up. His friends, used to Naruto's fine hearing, immediately covered his flanks to ensure he could focus.

"What's wrong?" Hagwin asked.

Naruto frowned. "Not sure." He replied. "I hear something, but I don't know what it is. Rustling, something cutting the air, a buzzing sound..." His eyes widened as he recalled a time where he had heard something similar. It had been in Yuki no Kuni, back in that world he had left behind. "An airship!"

Hagwin stared at him. "Naruto, there are only a few airships in this world, the odds that one is here right now is..."

Celia interrupted him. "He's right! There!" She pointed at the horizon, where a dark spot that was quickly growing into the shape of a zeppillin had appeared.

"The Skyshaker." Hagwin muttered. "I didn't know it belonged to Ironwing."

Naruto's head tilted sideways. "Huh?"

Hagwin glanced at him. "Naruto, the Skyshaker is the most advanced airship in the world. it has powerful weapons, but its greatest strength is the fact that it has room for over forty griffins."

After seeing his clueless expression, Celia added "A griffin is a very special avian Naruto. It has the body of a lion, but its head front-legs are that of an eagle. Wings grow from its shoulders, and it is very strong and very agile. Griffins make up most of our airforce, everything else is a machine. Trust me Naruto, a griffin is a very fearsome creature. Ironwing is famous for his flock, and it looks like the Skyshaker was built by him as well. Naruto, this is our first reinforcement."

Hagwin laughed. "We may not need much more than that. With the griffins and the ship's armaments aiding us, we should be able to easily keep them away."

-0-

And indeed, the Skyshaker was the beginning of the end for the gremlins. The airship dropped explosives, aiming for the remaining war-machines and clusters of archers, making the scattering gremlins easy pickings for the archers on the walls and the griffins swooping down from the sky.

Surprisingly, the gremlins did not retreat after the griffins returned and the Skyshaker landed on the tower of Sat Gean to conserve fuel and bring news of the remaining army, which would arrive at dawn.

This turned out to be their last mistake. The following morning, the remaining gremlins, roughly 1300 in number, found themselves completely boxed in by three different groups. To the sides stood the infantry, lancers standing in front to catch a possible charge or an attempted escape, while swordsmen and archers stood behind them, the cavalry waiting between the two blocks of foot-soldiers.

At the crack of dawn, just after the fires on the walls died down, they charged forward, fifteen-hundred horses plus heavily armed riders on a collision-course, two groups of two-thousand infantrymen each covering the sides, while the griffins rose into the air and the defenders of Sat Gean opened fire.

The gremlins were unprepared for this pincer-assault, but they had long since passed the point where they would consider retreat. They charged the walls, both to kill the defenders and to escape the hooves of the charging horses, while their archers fired wildly.

One of the proud griffins cried out as its neck was pierced and it dropped to the floor, killing itself and its rider, but even though the army consisted exclusively of humans, the numbers were too overwhelming, and as the walls withstood the final charge, the siege ended with the death of the last gremlin an hour before noon.

-0-

As Naruto looked over the field of carnage, he sighed. Why did trouble go out of its way to mess with him?

If one added the numbers together, then nine human soldiers of Sat Gean, one elven paladin, twenty-eight human soldiers of the reinforcement, sixteen horses and one griffin had lost their life in the Siege of Sat Gean, meaning that, even counting the animals, only fifty-five lives had been lost, while over 3200 gremlins had been killed. Fortunately for the soldiers of both Orders, Raphael had perished in the last assault, slain by one of the few gremlins that made it up the walls, so the version that was reported was actually mostly the truth, meaning that they all would receive great honors.

He didn't know why, but somehow the thought of being honored did not move him like it used to. He in fact had the feeling that it would be, as Shikamaru would say, a drag.

-0-

Two weeks later, the ceremony was held. And it was indeed just as Naruto had pictured it, stiff and formal to the point that all joy at receiving the honor was seriously dulled. Worse of all, every one of the 106 surviving defenders was honored personally, while all others had to stand still.

The entire affair took place in a lavish hall in an even more lavish palace. The walls were covered with silk, marble, and many precious metals. Statues of griffins and other animals were flanking the passages.

On the side there were stands, balconies on the higher floors, and every single one of them packed with people. Nobles and high-ranked military-men were practically fighting each other for the seats.

The hall itself was large, and there the soldiers stood in attention. A podium was in front of them, five people standing on it.

On the very right stood Marius, representing the Order of the Equitatus Magicus.

Next to him stood a decorated general, who apparently represented the soldiers as a whole.

Right in the center stood the king of the country himself, who had traveled many miles to personally honor the heroes.

On his left stood Jeremiah Ironwing, who was clearly very satisfied with how the siege had ended.

Finally, on the very left stood a man in the armor of the paladins. He was wearing a turban and had a black goatee. This man was called his excellency, Saladin, the current leader of the Order of the Paladins.

At first Ironwing took the stage, explaining what had occurred to the noblemen, and praising the men all for their achievement.

Then the general stepped up, speaking of the honor each and every one of them had brought to them, and that for their services, they had earned his greatest respect. How one managed to take over two hours to say that much Naruto would never understand.

Marius and Saladin thankfully kept things short, most likely because they apparently wanted to get to the point, and because there were very few of their respective orders to be honored.

Finally the king spoke, basically explaining the significance of this event, before the main attraction finally began.

One by one, the defenders stepped up, trumpets blaring with every step, and onto the podium, where they were introduced by either the general, Saladin, or Marius. Naruto payed attention to only a few.

-0-

Hagwin kneeled before Marius. "Hagwin, son of Helmir. When you first came to our order from the far kingdom of Belchar, many were unsure if you could prove yourself in battle. All of the doubters have been silenced, and are now standing in awe ate your achievement. You have fought bravely, both in Sat Gean, and with the troop that delivered the supplies to the fortress, and helped fight off the cowardly ambush. You have brought great honor to yourself, your clan, and the Order of the Equitatus Magicus. News of your deeds have traveled to your home, the dwarven kingdom of Belchar, and your father has sent message that his heart soars in pride for his son. It is my great honor to bestow upon you, Hagwin, son of Helmir, the title of Hero of the Order of the Equitatus Magicus."

Hagwin seemed too moved to speak. He lowered his head even further as he received the honor.

-0-

Saladin's voice was pleasant. "Celia Lightwood. You joined the paladins, when that is practically exclusive to male elves. Many thought that it would be better you joined the temple of Valir like so many of your fellow sisters. However, you preserved, through what had to be a harsh training, and now stand here, proving your worth in the eyes of the world. Your father has sent his congratulations, and his majesty Oberon, king of the high-elves, sends his regards as well. So it is with great pride and satisfaction that I hereby grant you the title of Hero of the Order of the Paladins."

Celia seemed to be lost for words. The king himself had sent regards, that was more than she ever could have hoped for.

-0-

Evan's eyes were at the ground. "Evan, son of Simon. When you first came to join our order, you had little that spoke for you. You knew little of the sword, and less of magic. But what you had more than anyone else was fierce determination, and the willingness to work hard to achieve your goal. I believe that I can honestly say that you have proven that much land or great wealth are not needed to be great. Your father sends message that he could not be more proud of you. With this, you have proven your worth to all, and earned the title of Hero of the Order of the Equitatus Magicus."

Naruto noticed that Evan grimaced slightly at the words. It seemed that the Shefflefields were not the wealthiest of lands.

-0-

Finally the last knight, paladin, and soldier had been waved through, and Naruto wondered if he could finally leave, when the king stepped forward. Silence fell through the chamber once more.

"Our good warriors have been honored, but there is one more that deserves our praise. He is not a member of an order, nor is he a soldier. He has decided to lend his strength to the Equitatus Magicus, but he is not a knight. He is but a man that felt that there was something he had to do, and he did. Many of the soldiers have said that without him, they would be dead, and Sat Gean would have been in the hands of the gremlins. Sir Naruto Uzumaki, I ask you to step up and kneel."

Naruto was baffled, but he obeyed, kneeling like he had seen so many others do before him.

The king smiled. He was an old man, easily as old as the Sandaime had been, only that he seemed less fit. He looked down on Naruto. "For your courageous actions at Sat Gean, you have been granted the title of Hero. As it is usual for Heroes, you will receive an epitaph, so that all may learn of your deed. Rise, Sir Naruto, the Legion!"

Naruto stood, a bit surprised by the turn of events. It seemed that Heroes were titled by the king himself. Still, this seemed more like an attempt to bind him to them than an honor. Now that he was a Hero, people would begin to expect him to do things that he didn't want to do.

Then again, maybe he was just paranoid.

-0-

After the ceremony, there was a giant celebration. Roasted meat, fruits, and lots of beer were easy to get, and every now and then, one could even spot a bottle of elven wine.

Naruto sat down with Celia and Hagwin, who still seemed dazzled by the events. Evan on the other hand was sitting on the other side of the table, speaking loudly to Jonathan.

"Jonathan, is it true what they say? Rumor has it that a herd has moved into your father's lands. Am I invited to the hunt?"

Jonathan smiled. "Well, we're not entirely sure yet if we call out a hunt or not. That particular species has become rare these days, and father thinks that perhaps we should let the herd breed some more before we call out a hunt. Though father is a passionate hunter, and I'm pretty sure that he'll decide to call out a hunt within the month. Of course you're invited. Oh, sir Naruto, what about you? You haven't been on a hunt before, have you?"

Naruto blinked. "Um, no, not really."

Hagwin spat out. "Barbaric tradition."

Celia for a change agreed with the dwarf. "A disgusting habit."

Evan grimaced. "Oh goodness, wimps."

Naruto's head snapped up, his hand inching towards the sword. Jonathan realized that Naruto took insults to his friends very personal, and quickly moved to defuse the situation. "Don't misunderstand, that's not personal. Wimp is a common term for those that reject hunts. How about this. You'll just participate in the hunt my family hosts, and then you'll make your own decision. If you don't like it, then we'll never bother you about it again."

Naruto frowned, getting a bad feeling, but it indeed seemed hypocritical to make a statement about something that he knew nothing about, so he finally nodded. "Fine. One time."

Celia and Hagwin frowned, but reluctantly nodded. Naruto needed to see that to understand why they were so against it.

What none knew was that what Naruto would see there would be the first thing that would convince him of leaving the Order, and the light.

* * *

Chapter 6 is done. Took me a while, but I really wanted to get the entire siege over this chapter. The end may seem a bit rushed, and it is, but there's really not that much that I feel I can describe here. Call it inexperience, that's my only excuse.

Plotwise, we made a little progress. Naruto has revealed more of his power, to a point where he himself starts to wonder what has changed, not to mention unnerve most around him. Next chapter will hold one, two if I manage, events that will open Naruto's eyes to the corruption, and have him seriously doubt the righteousness of the light. The chapter after that will then show the details of him leaving, that much of a spoiler I'm willing to give. I will only add that that event will be grand.

Spells will have incantations, though advanced mages don't need to use them. Most of them will be in English, though those of higher spells might be in a different language, or a for mortals incomprendable mumbling. While I will probably invent most myself, I may borrow some incantations from certain sources, like games or songs, so who knows, you might recognize some of them. I can tell you though that the two I mentioned here are original.

Oh, and since Darksnider05 mentioned it, I have purposefully chosen the terms 'light race' and 'dark race', not because one is good and one is evil, but because the 'light' races are the ones in control, and this phrasing best explains their view. Of course its not black and white, but those who are in power simply pretend that it is.

And for the final time, there is no connection between Gaia and Terra, and the summoning-contracts would require far too much power to be able to open such a connection, not to mention that with the merge, Naruto's body, including the blood he used to sign the contract in the first place, have been fundamentally changed, meaning that he may not be able to summon toads even if it worked. That, and the giant toads just don't fit into how I want the story to go right now.

And I intend to not only give descriptions to intelligent races, but also to the unique animals of Gaia, so here is a description of a certain animal that made its first appearance this chapter.

**Encyclopedia of Gaian Species**

Griffin  
The Griffin is an animal native to Gaia. It has the head, wings, and front-legs of an eagle, while the body, hind-legs and tail are that of a large feline, most closely resembling that of a lion. Fur and feathers range in color from white over gray, red and brown to black. It feeds on meat, both from smaller and larger mammals, though it also eats avians, and certain fruits. Griffons grow up to ten feet tall, with wingspans that have been recorded to reach over thirty feet, and particularly bulky animals have weighed up to a ton, though flying was difficult for these extremes. This animal lives in herds, though loners are not uncommon either. Griffons are also the only animals that the light races, humans in particular, use as flying units. All other means of flight are mechanical, and logically less maneuverable, making the griffon a very important part of the armies of the light, and they are very well cared for. In battle, both against enemies and rival griffons during mating-season, they mainly use the claws of their front-legs, biting only to kill, or in the case of other griffons, end the fight due to serious injury of the opponent. The claws can pierce steel, while the beak has crushed skulls protected by heavy helmets on many occasions.

Well, that's all for now, so

Please Review


	7. The Image cracks

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

* * *

It was three weeks after the ceremony, and the hunt had been called out. Naruto had traveled to the castle where the hunt would be, a midsize castle complete with walls and moat in the middle of nowhere that served as a summer-residence. The hallways were lit with torches and bare, while the rooms and chambers were decorated with furs, skulls, and trophies of all kinds, mainly stuffed heads and a few stuffed birds and mammals.

Naruto himself wasn't sure what to think of all of this. Back home, he had occasionally hunted rabbits and rats for more food, but he never felt any satisfaction, only relief that he wouldn't go hungry. Hunting for trophies was something Naruto never had any interest in, but who knew.

Looking at Jonathan, he cleared his throat. "By the way, you said the hunt would be tomorrow, but you never told me just what we are hunting."

Evan looked up. "You know, Sir Naruto is right. Different animals have different characteristics, so knowing what we're up against might help, even though the tactic is basically always the same."

Jonathan slapped his forehead. "My apologies, I thought you heard already. We're hunting a herd of loxodons."

Evan nodded, though Naruto was confused. "What's a loxodon?" He asked.

Evan looked at him, then his lips formed a small 'oh'. "That's right, I forgot you are from a different world. A loxodon is a rather large animal, roughly two meters tall, and easily four-hundred kilogram on a scale. Their skin is gray and like leather, though our swords will easily pierce them. What all hunters who get in close have to watch out for are the tusks growing out of their maws, and their long noses, called trunks. The loxodon can use them both as a whip and an arm."

Lucian pointed at one of the trophies. "There, that's a loxodon-head."

Naruto turned around. The head Jonathan was pointing at strongly resembled that of an elephant, only it was smaller than that of the elephants Naruto had once seen with a circus, roughly the size of a teenagers upper-body, with a trunk that was over 1,5 meters long, which indicated that this wasn't simply the head of a young elephant. Perhaps a loxodon was simply a smaller breed of elephant. He nodded. "I see. Will you use magic?"

Jonathan stared at Naruto as if he had lost his mind. "In a hunt? Are you joking? Of course not! The entire point is to succeed without magic. Using magic in a hunt means that you are not strong enough to succeed. Well, we may use some to prepare the field, but the actual hunt is strictly magic-free."

Evan patted his friend on the shoulder. "Calm down, he couldn't have known." Then he looked at Naruto. "Perhaps we should all retire for the night. Tomorrow is a big day, and we all should double-check our weaponry."

Naruto nodded, not really that interested in their company. The two had spent the entire day discussing different approaches and hunts, leaving Naruto in the dark, seeing that unlike the two, he had no experience in hunts, and as such couldn't really join the conversation. Truth be told, he missed Celia and Hagwin.

Still, he returned to the room they had assigned him to, and quickly fell asleep.

-0-

The next morning was foggy, not that the soldiers seemed to mind. Quite the opposite, an air of excitement seemed to take hold of the castle, everyone seemed hardly able to wait for the night, or the next morning for those that didn't join, but wanted to hear stories.

Wilfried, Jonathan's father, arrived, bringing a map, before explaining the plan. "The herd is currently here," he pointed at a spot maybe thirty miles away from the castle "in this valley. The spot is good, as the high cliffs offer them a certain degree of protection, as there are only two paths that can be taken. We will come from the west, using this entrance. Once we are prepared, we'll cause a ruckus. The adult bulls will come charging at us, which is what we want, since they are the greatest trophies, while the cows and the young will use the southeast passage to escape. We are aiming for the ones charging us, the other ones are not our business. If there are no further questions, we'll ride immediately, so that we'll be in position in time."

The other hunters nodded, the plan seemed simple enough. Wilfried looked around, a grin on his lips. "Very well then, let us hunt!"

-0-

Naruto was getting a bad vibe. There was something wrong, but he wasn't quite sure what.

They had been on the top of the cliff first, looking at what looked hills of mud. Wilfried had explained that Loxodon built mounds like that for shade. Naruto found this odd. How would an elephant, even a small one, build mounds like that with only its trunk? Something was wrong.

Still, he had followed the other hunters to the canyon, where they had settled down, giving their weapons one last check.

Wilfried explained the more intricate details of their plan. "Well, we shall wait until dusk. When the last lights of day fade, their sense of sight is at their weakest. Still, they have good hearing and a better sense of smell, so be careful. We will lure the bulls to us, they'll charge straight into our trap. Then we'll use spears to finish them off. Be careful though, these beasts are tough."

The other hunters nodded, and Naruto saw a gleam in their eyes that he didn't like. It spoke of a greed for blood that unnerved him. These men were here for the thrill of death.

And Naruto felt even more out of place.

-0-

The hunters had sneaked as close as they dared, before carefully scattering metal objects that reminded Naruto of the crow-feet shinobi used, small metal constructs designed so that one spike would always point up. Then he understood.

The ruckus would attract the bulls, which would charge at the sound, and right into these spikes. A cruel plan, but not a stupid plan. The fact that some of the mages had called upon a fog that slightly reduced vision and hid the floor, the trap was practically invisible.

Wilfried gave the signal, and the hunters started shouting, banging their shields and rattling their weapons while they slowly approached their own trap.

In less than a minute, the earth began to tremble as something large, or rather many somethings, charged their way. The loxodons gave loud trumpets as they got closer, apparently trying to scare the attackers away. A few seconds later the trumpeting was filled with pain as the bulls reached the trap, and Naruto saw large silhouettes in the fog fall.

The soldiers howled bloodthirstily and ran forward, their feet protected by their metal shoes, ramming long pikes into the bodies.

Naruto looked around, his bad feeling increasing. The falling shapes had not looked like that of animals. They had looked... humanoid.

Then a few of the figures rose again, ignoring the pain and flinging the men holding the pikes through the air, before continuing their charge, ignorant to the pain. Crude clubs were swung, and more men went flying.

Naruto pulled his sword and blocked a club to his head, only to nearly drop his sword when he saw just what was attacking him.

-0-

The loxodon indeed have gray skin, trunks, tusks, large ears, in other words an elephant's head, and a small tail, but that was where the similarities ended. Instead of an animal's body, the loxodon stood on two tree-like legs that indeed looked like that of elephants, but the build was crudely human. A muscled frame, though the belly was round, leading to two rippled arms that ended in hands with three thick fingers and a thumb. The club was clutched in both hands, and a piece of cloth was wrapped around its torso.

However, what really got to Naruto were the eyes. Those were not the eyes of a frightened animal. In them, Naruto saw intelligence, a sentient spirit, filled with fear, no, with an abyss of despair. Naruto found himself unable to move.

-0-

In that moment, the loxodon lashed out with its trunk, hitting Naruto square in the chest and sending him flying back. He spun in the air, landing gracefully like a cat, and raised his head, just in time to see three hunters charging the poor soul, skewering its neck, leg and heart. Naruto did the one thing that all war-scripts told you not to do. He looked the dying one right in the eyes, and felt his heart break at the grief in them.

The fog lifted slowly, and Naruto saw the full carnage. It had apparently stood eighteen loxodon against over three dozen men, and the odds had been stacked against them. Not one of them had made it, but they had put up a good fight. It actually filled Naruto with a grim satisfaction to see nine men laying unmoving on the ground, four more moaning in pain.

He was about to corner someone and squeeze some answers, and maybe the life, out of them, when more trumpeting reached his sensitive ears, these higher, less anger, more raw fear and pain. Without sparing the humans a single glance, Naruto rushed past them, towards the source.

-0-

Naruto stared at the scene before him. Humans were standing in front of a cliff that they had filled with pikes. They had apparently used the fog to have the other loxodon notice the trap too late, causing many to fall to their deaths. Then another group of hunters had shown up behind them, and forced the survivors down the cliff.

Naruto stared at the bloody sight before him. He could not find words for how disgusted he was, nor for how angry.

Jonathan was suddenly beside him. "Well, I'd call that a success. The ivory will bring a fortu...grgle?" He was interrupted by Naruto, who had brutally slammed him against a wall, before grabbing him by the collar and effortlessly heaved the young man including armor into the air. "Explain yourself. Now!"

Jonathan blinked. "What are you...talking... air!"

Naruto eased his grip. Slightly. "Why did you all do this? Why this... _hunt_?" Nobody would have believed that one could put so much disgust in such a short word.

Jonathan blinked, apparently confused. "It's...sport." He replied, as if it was obvious.

That was the wrong answer. Naruto's grip slackened in disbelief. "Sport?" He whispered, then his grip tightened until the armor creaked. "Sport? You commit genocide for SPORT?"

Evan grabbed Naruto's shoulder. "Sir Naruto, calm down! Why all the fuss about a few animals?"

Naruto froze, before throwing Jonathan through the air like a piece of garbage, spinning around to face Evan.

The young knight recoiled from the rage boiling behind the amethyst orbs that seemed to glow with an unholy fire. "Just...animals? You ignorant, arrogant..."

Wilfried had listened in on the conversation, and was not happy with Naruto's anger and his son's flight, even though it had been cushioned by three soldiers that collapsed under the impact. "What a disappointment. Who would had thought that 'the Legion' was a wimp."

Naruto's eyes turned to the man, and the earl cowered. Naruto's fist rose, and then slammed into the cliff. A giant spiderweb of cracks bloomed from the point of impact. Naruto's voice was dangerously calm. "I have punched _through_ gremlin-skulls before, are you really going to provoke me?"

"You wouldn't dare raise your hand against one that the gods themselves have chosen as a leader!" The earl declared.

Naruto gave him a disgusted glance. "I am not of your world. I am not a creation of your gods, they do not have the authority to judge me. They mean nothing to me."

The cliff began to crumble, and Naruto simply turned and walked right into the rain of rock, without being hit by a single pebble. Then he paused, a boulder shattering the ground before his feet. "What I have seen here is repulsive. Never speak of hunts before me again, or..." He left the threat unfinished, not that more was needed. The boulder before him shattered, and Naruto continued his walking.

-0-

A month had passed quietly, and certain changes had occurred from the hunt. The humans seemed to become even more nervous of Naruto, who had begun to react allergic to the word 'hunt'. All in all, fear seemed to be the only thing that kept the human knights from acting hostile against Naruto. Celia and Hagwin on the other hand seemed quite happy that their friend hadn't gotten a taste for the barbaric practice, though they found his reaction slightly exaggerated.

Still, Naruto remained with the knights, despite the colder atmosphere, spending time with his friends, and fulfilling a few lower-ranked missions together, mainly guarding things and occasionally exterminating a nest of gremlins or a group of human bandits.

Then, roughly seven weeks after the hunt, something that would change the course of history occurred.

-0-

The 'heroes of Sat Gean' had been called to Marius's study, together with a troop of veteran soldiers.

The leader of the knights walked up and down, looking at each of them. "You are probably all wondering why I called you all here. The answer is simple. Our agents have found a newly built outpost, belonging to an evil race. It seems that our ancient enemy is preparing an attack on the village of Kelchen, which lies only twenty miles away. It is the holy duty of our order to prevent this, and rot out our foes before they can pillage the innocent villagers. You all have been chosen for this honorable duty, most for your experience, a few for their achievements, so that they can learn from our veterans."

The knights saluted. Then Lucien lowered his head. "General, if I may, but just what foe will we smite?"

Marius looked at him. "Patience Sir Lucien, I would have gotten to that. But to answer your question, the outpost is manned by orcs."

Mutterings went through the knights, words like 'desecrators', 'man-eaters' and 'vile beasts' falling. The general raised a hand, and all fell silent. "Yes, it is worrisome to learn of their presence so close to a village, but remain calm. It is our duty to ensure that their plans will fail, and we will do so, am I correct?" He asked, his voice raising towards the end.

The knights straightened. "YES, MY LORD!" They called as one.

Marius turned to Celia. "Lady Celia, the Order of the Paladins have agreed to lend us their support. You will accompany us on this mission, twenty of your brothers will join us later."

Celia nodded, before bowing. "As you command."

Then Marius looked at Naruto. "As for you, Sir Naruto..."

Naruto gazed at him. "I will offer my services, of course. I do not abandon my comrades."

Marius remained silent for a moment, then he nodded. "Very well. You all have a day to prepare, you leave at dawn."

"YES, MY LORD!"

-0-

The journey had been a short one, only three days, the last one they had walked, carefully avoiding to make too much noise that would attract enemies.

The promised paladins had arrived, together with a delegation from the local lord, giving them a collective manpower of 113 men against the outpost of the orcs.

Everyone seemed tense, and Naruto somewhat understood it, as the orcs had in stories been described as a race that occasionally ate human, dwarven, and elven flesh, and followed each victory with a feast of rape and plunder. And while Naruto reserved final judgment, usually there was at least some truth in such stories.

He would have to be careful.

-0-

A few hours later, Naruto froze. "There's someone over there. Three people, don't smell human."

While Naruto himself might not have been mister popular right now, nobody doubted his senses anymore. "How far are they?" A knight asked.

Naruto frowned. "Maybe a hundred feet, coming closer."

Three paladins stepped forward, all mumbling the same incantation. "_I speak so that I may remain unheard. Great gods, separate this field from the world of noise so that our feet may be as swift and silent as the breeze. In the name of the voiceless, lay upon our field the_ **Shroud of Silence**."

Naruto felt the magic wash over him, but he could still hear. "Did the magic fail?" He asked Hagwin.

"Nay." The dwarf answered. "That spell doesn't kill all sound, it just makes so that those out of the field can't hear anything happening in the field."

Naruto nodded, that made sense. This way, the fight could go on without alarming the rest of the guards. Clever, Naruto would admit that much.

Half a minute later, three green-skinned humanoids walked into the clearing. The first second, they simply stared at the opposing army, then all three broke out into wild roars and charged.

Their blood-thirst had to be immense if they decided to attack even at these odds.

One mage muttered "**Earth Lance**!" and a spike of earth shot out of the floor, impaling one of the orcs, but the other two ignored their comrade's fate, jumping right into the midst of the combatants, and swinging their weapons, an axe and a club.

The defenders stabbed for a good ten seconds before the two green hulks stopped twitching, at which point two of the soldiers were dead, four more injured.

Naruto shook his head. He couldn't understand what amount of rage and hatred would motivate one to throw their lives away like that. Perhaps there was some merit to the stories.

Cathesian, who was the current leader of the paladins, stepped forward. "These were the watch. We should move swiftly and strike fast, before they notice their absence. But stay on guard, we don't know if there are more patrols."

The others nodded, hands at their weapons. It never hurt to be careful, especially since the silencing-spell was not moveable, and cost too much to simply recast on every occasion. And the enemy could show up at any time.

-0-

The outpost looked fairly simple, built on an open plain maybe half a mile away from the forest's edge, close enough to retreat to, but far enough to not offer potential attackers any cover. There were maybe fifty buildings, small half-orbs with holes to serve as doors, the designers apparently preferring quick building and stealth over comfort and style. Behind it there was a section without grass, perhaps a training-field.

Despite the worries, no further patrols appeared, the outpost apparently feeling very secure. The reason for that was a very thin barrier surrounding it in a radius of at least three-hundred feet, according to Cathesian erected by a shaman, as the orcs called their Black Magic-users. The effect of this barrier was unclear, though it would likely be unpleasant, so Cathesian instructed his paladins, and the knights, to fan out along the barrier.

"Why are the soldiers acting so nervous?" Naruto asked Celia, when he noticed that the soldiers had given the knights and paladins a wide berth.

Celia shrugged. "They don't want to accidentally trigger the barrier. It's invisible to anyone not using mage-sight."

Naruto tilted his head, as he could see the barrier as a faint outline even without pumping chakra into his eyes. "Really? Never mind, what are they doing over there?"

Celia had rushed forward to assist, so answering fell onto Hagwin. "That barrier is made with Black Magic. The White Magic in the Paladins' crystal hammers should work against it, and if not, the Demon Magic from our Dark Blades can. With Black Magic ya can strengthen something against White Magic or against Demon Magic, but not against both. So by attacking with both, the barrier will fall."

"Strike!" Cathesian called out, and twenty knights and twenty paladins struck as one. The barrier shattered like glass.

Still, apparently the shaman could feel his construct collapse, as a loud, feral call rang through the night-air.

"CHARGE!" Cathesian shouted. Now that the ambush had failed, they had to strike before the orcs organized themselves. The army broke into a wild run as the first orcs began to run out of the buildings.

By the time Cathesian's horde reached the outpost, over forty orcs had climbed out of their mounds to defend it, roaring defiantly.

-0-

After two quick kills, Naruto found himself fighting a particularly muscled orc that had just climbed out of a mound, armed with a hammer and a sharp piece of iron burning in an angry red, apparently a blacksmith.

The orc roared at Naruto and swung his hammer, horizontally, intending to shatter Naruto's head. Said boy bent backward at the waist, before flinging himself back at the orc, pulling the sword in a high arc to split his enemy's face. The orc however blocked with the hot iron, letting the sword slide harmlessly past his shoulder, before making a stab at Naruto's face, which the blond only avoided by jumping back.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. This one was strong, and an experienced warrior. He was significantly slower than Naruto, but his experience allowed him to predict where the young shinobi would strike, and avoid giving any openings.

The two circled each other like two wolves, looking for an opening. For some reason, the orcs didn't bother them, one actually stopping to avoid running into Naruto. The orc on the other hand had to kill a number of soldiers that tried to attack him from behind. After a few rounds, it was clear that neither would show an opening, and they both charged each other again weapons clashing and limbs flying towards faces and other open spots. Finally, Naruto jumped back, only to instantly shoot himself forward, lifting the enemy's hastily erected guard with one of his axes, and stabbing the sword up to the hilt into the orc's chest.

Naruto looked into his opponent's eyes... and was surprised at what he saw. Instead of the hatred and anger he had expected, he saw grief and despair. The orc opened his mouth. "Why you can't... leave us alone? Why you...hunt us...kill...usss?" The last word was slurred as the life left the orc's eyes.

Naruto gently laid the dead one to the floor, pulling the sword out of his chest, and, following an instinct he couldn't understand, lowered his head, bit a piece of flesh out of the enemy's shoulder and swallowed it. Suddenly he noticed someone standing before him.

He looked up and saw an old orc, a female, standing before him, resting on a cane. She simply looked at him, trying to hold herself together. Finally, she spoke, a tremble in her voice. "My son... died good death. Honorable fight. Brave foe. Kind foe. Son will live on inside foe. I am grateful. Now please leave alone, to grieve."

Naruto looked into her eyes, before wordlessly turning around and walking away. Behind him, he heard the old orc weep over her son's dead body. His cheeks were wet, and when he touched them, he realized he was crying. Then...

_Squelch_

Spinning around, Naruto saw that the old orc had been pierced by numerous icicles, a human knight standing behind her. The man sneered at Naruto. "Foolish, to turn your back to an orc, Legion, no matter how old. You can't trust them. And this is how you finish them, with elegant magic. Biting, what are you, an animal?" The man apparently believed that Naruto had bitten the orc to distract him enough to kill him. Then he lopped off his victim's head, and that of Naruto's enemy. "Can't have them coming back now, can we?" He added, before spitting on the corpses.

Naruto's grip on his killing intent slipped for a second, forcing the knight to his knees, before Naruto regained control. The arrogance of this man just disgusted him. "You dare speak to me of animal-like behavior? Attacking an old woman that's already on her knees, from behind no less. How much cowardice does one need to sink so low?"

The man's face turned to a grimace of hatred. "You call me a coward? How dare you? For this insult I'll have your head!" He charged at Naruto, swinging his sword.

But when the blade was only a few inches away, it shattered like glass. Naruto looked down onto the shocked man with loathing and disgust, before taking a few steps to the side, allowing an orc to charge at the shocked man, and decapitate him with a sickle.

The orc, a rather young one, though already well-muscled, turned to Naruto, who simply raised his hand. "Go. Just go."

Behind them, the sounds of a magical battle stopped, as twenty magic-users had finally overwhelmed the shaman, who had apparently been especially knowledgeable in battle-magic.

The orc looked at him, his gaze locking onto the tears and the orc-blood on Naruto's lips. "You hold spirit of uncle. You different. Human, but not human. Others will learn of you, mourning slayer. I Thrandar, do not forget." With that, he turned and ran, unseen by the few combatants that hadn't moved closer to the magical battle.

After all, everyone knew that orcs were too evil and blood-thirsty to flee.

-0-

When Naruto finally arrived at the scene of the magical battle, he was impressed. Fires were burning everywhere, deep gouges scarred the ground, and ice lay melting in puddles. Steam was wavering, most likely from water called to block the lava the shaman had thrown against them.

Celia and Hagwin stood together, smeared in blood. The elf spotted him first. "Naruto!" She called out.

Naruto walked to them, incredibly tired. He had looked around, and the more he had seen, the greater the feeling in his stomach grew. "Celia, Hagwin. What's going on?"

Hagwin shrugged. "Our first battle against the dark races. It's... a little much. We didn't want to see the last part."

Naruto looked up. "Last part?"

Celia looked down. "I know they are the enemy, but I still couldn't bear to watch. It is a sin to raise a weapon against the helpless."

Naruto's eyes widened. Without another word, he rushed forward, following a fresher scent of blood he had ignored before, thinking it part of the battlefield's smell. When he reached one of the last mounds and stood on it, he froze at the sight.

-0-

The troops of 'light' had herded the orcs that hadn't rushed out, elderly, women, and children, on one spot, before proceeding with what Celia had called the last part. Skewered with pikes, decapitated, piled up to a hill of corpses, and finally set ablaze. What truly made Naruto's blood boil were the down pikes sticking out of the hill, a baby-orc skewered on each. It was the most disgusting thing he had ever witnessed, including the hunt on the loxodon.

Words failed to describe how he felt. Mere words would not be able to express the murderous fury boiling inside of him.

Lucien approached him, apparently looking for someone to share his thrilled exhaustion with. "What a fight! My heart was beating like crazy, I nearly..."

Naruto raised his hand to keep him away, his head still turned to the pyre. "Don't touch me."

Lucien blinked. "Huh?"

Naruto's head turned, and Lucien felt his heart stop for a few seconds when he looked into the amethyst abyss of infinite rage. "I'm not picky right now, I would kill nearly anyone."

Cathesian stepped to them. "Now now, lets all calm down. I know your blood is still pumping, but its over. The enemy is dead, the outpost is destroyed, and the town is..."

Naruto stared at him. "Outpost? Outpost?"

Hagwin and Celia had caught up with him. "Naruto, what's wrong?" The dwarf asked.

Naruto looked at the mass of people that had gathered around them. "Have you ever thought about what was going on? Have you ever opened your eyes to see what's going on? Have you even cared to look?" His hand waved around the battlefield. "Tell me, when you look at this place, what do you see?"

Evan snorted. "A destroyed outpost, what else?"

Naruto's cold gaze rested on him. "Exactly, what else? You never even bothered to judge the situation yourself. Answer me this, _Sir_ Evan," Somehow, the title sounded like an insult "Even if orcs were as bloodthirsty as your fairy-tales claim, and what I read from your records make them sound like a smart military force, what are the women doing here? The infants? The elderly? Would you man an outpost with them?"

Evan frowned. "Of course not, they'd only be a burden. Why do you... oh." He had connected the dots.

Naruto looked around. "Then tell me this. You fought the orcs. Did any of them wield real weapons?"

Voices of protest rose. "Of course!" "Clubs!" "One nearly gutted me with a knife!" "Mine used an axe!" "He killed Stephen with his scythe!"

Naruto sneered and picked up an orc-axe laying forgotten on the floor, before tossing it to Hagwin. "Tell me Hagwin, would you take this into war?"

The dwarf looked at the axe, before frowning. "Nay. This is not a battle-axe. The wood is too brittle, there's only one edge, which is too small for effective combat. This is a tool for lumbering, not a weapon."

Naruto nodded. "Those clubs are simply pieces of wood, nothing more than lumber. The rest are simple tools. An outpost armed with tools and lumber?"

Celia had grown pale as she looked around again, this time with concentration. Her eyes widened with horror. "You're saying this is... a settlement?"

Naruto's eyes softened slightly as he looked at her. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I read, the last real clash of armies was over nineteen-hundred years ago."

Evan grimaced. "What are you trying to say?"

Naruto looked at him, his eyes once again filled with anger. "That while its natural to want to be sure in a war, one of the most fundamental things one must do in one is realize when it is over! From what I'm seeing, you're all rest- and mercilessly pounding on a already beaten foe."

Cathesian felt that the situation was getting out of hand, and he honestly had little doubt who would walk away from a small-scale fight between Naruto and the soldiers. They were good, but Naruto, titled 'The Legion' for a reason, had the advantage in numbers, not to mention that primal power he had shown on a few occasions. If a roar alone shattered rocks, then it could shatter bone, not to mention what it spoke of the creature that had released it. "Now, lets all calm down. Whatever our thoughts may be, we fulfilled our mission. We're returning, that's an order."

Naruto silently looked at him, then he turned around, walking towards Celia and Hagwin, who followed him.

-0-

That night, after the camp was asleep, Hagwin and Celia sat with Naruto, as the only ones still awake.

Finally, Celia asked the question that was burning on both Gaian's lips. "Naruto, please be honest. You're special, right? I mean, by the standards of your people as well."

Naruto looked at her, then he sighed. "I guess you deserve the truth. You two know what demons are, of course. In my world we don't summon them, so there is less contact with them. In my world, only nine demons exist, each with a number of tails going from one to nine. These nine however are ridiculously powerful, and they run rampant through the lands."

Hagwin looked at him. "Nobody tried to kill them yet?"

Naruto laughed. "Hundreds tried, but every attempt failed. There is only one way to stop them, although its only temporary. That way is to seal them away. To harness their power, they were sealed into humans, which are then called jinchuuriki, which means 'Power of the Human-Sacrifice'. Breaking the seal afterwords will kill the host. I am a jinchuuriki."

The two remained silent, then Hagwin scratched his head. "Well, that explains a lot. At least we now have an explanation for your strength, and how the ceremony could summon you."

Naruto looked at them, surprised. "You don't mind?"

Celia smiled as well. "We think no less of you because of that. You are our friend Naruto, and you have never shown that you are anything but that, a friend. We've been through too much to just abandon you like this."

Naruto's eyes swelled with tears, and he sobbed in happiness. "Thank you. You two have no idea how much this means to me."

But while the three friends celebrated their friendship, a fourth pair of eyes was opened, the owner beginning to plot.

-0-

_A week later, in a secret location..._

A group of very important people had gathered in the circular chamber with the empty middle surrounded by high chairs like in a courtroom, namely Marius, Saladin, and a number of military VIPs. And one more person that was currently standing in the empty center, preparing to hold the perhaps most important speech of his life.

Looking around into the faces one last time, before taking a deep breath. "Honorable gentlemen, you all know why we have gathered here today. The topic of our meeting is none other than the one called Naruto Uzumaki, titled 'The Legion'. Now let me swear to our beloved Gaia and the great pantheon that what I say here is the truth and nothing but the truth." This was the most sacred vow a human could make, and anyone who broke it could kill himself right away and save the others the trouble. With this vow, there was no doubt that the speaker would not lie. "He appeared here because of a, as we all freely admit, experimental ritual that our order recreated from incomplete documents. We all assumed the reason for the arrival of the one called Naruto was due to a mistake on our part, and welcomed him here. We were all impressed with his skill, and indeed his abilities were a great help at Sat Gean."

The speaker took a deep breath. "It was there when the first doubt began to grow. He showed an, there is no better word for it, inhuman behavior. We shrugged it off, believing it to simply be a peculiarity of the people of this world. We accepted his dislike of one of the most respected traditions of us humans, the hunt, as there are many others who have similar, though less vocal opinions. We even tolerated his open blasphemy against our gods, telling ourselves that a blind eye should be turned, seeing that someone who was not of our world could not possibly understand their importance. However, I recently discovered some things that we cannot ignore."

Mutterings began to erupt, as blasphemy had always been something that was given little to no tolerance, and excuses were accepted only in very rare cases.

The speaker smiled. It seemed he had struck a chord. "As many will know, last week there was a preventive strike against an outpost of orcs, which was successful. What not everyone knows, is that Sir Uzumaki participated in this operation. He fought alongside us in the battle, but afterwords, the true problem appeared. He openly criticized not only the entire operation, but the holy war itself! Even worse, the sympathizer tried to convert the other warriors!"

Now outrage followed. That was treason, and treason was unacceptable under any conditions.

The speaker raised his hand. "Please, listen for one more minute! While all this is indeed unforgivable, its not the only thing that I've learned, not even the worst. Through a coincident, I was able to overhear Sir Uzumaki speak of his world. In it, there are only nine demons, which they are apparently unable to kill. Instead, to be rid of them for at least a while, they lock them into a human body. Sir Naruto is one of those beings, a demon in a human's body. I ask you all here and now, despite my low station, can we accept this abomination in our ranks when he has proven that he cannot be trusted?"

Now utter pandemonium broke out. Angered roars and cries of outrage ran rampant for over ten minutes before the situation finally calmed down enough for Marius and Saladin to raise their hands to call for quiet. Marius spoke first. "I believe we heard enough. As the one who called him here, I take full responsibility for this event. A mistake was made, that much I freely admit. But the mistake can still be corrected. However, I do not believe myself the absolute judge, that is reserved for the gods, so I will ask all present for their opinion. All who believe that we should act as quickly as we can to silence this threat, say aye."

"AYE!" came the reply from countless voices.

"Any objections?" Asked Marius.

Silence.

Marius nodded. "Very well then." He turned to the speech-holder. "Do you wish to participate in this operation?"

The Speaker nodded. "Of course, general."

Marius nodded. "Very well. This strike needs to be executed perfectly, we will most likely not have a second chance, so we cannot be hasty. This needs to be thoroughly planned. Patience is a virtue here."

Saladin rose. "I offer the support of the paladins."

Marius nodded. "My gratitude. This entire affair will soon come to a close. I believe we can call the meeting finished."

As the people began to leave, the speech-holder couldn't suppress a smile. Finally, things would finally return to how they were before.

* * *

Chapter 7 is done. For some reason, I feel like writing for this particular story, I'm not sure why. Perhaps it has something to do with my being in the military. I already know I'm not writing 'God of Illusion, Host of the Devil's Arm' because I feel that I'm not able to get the proper emotional depth that is needed for that story while I'm stuck here. But maybe I just have the most ideas for this story right now, who knows.

Plot-wise I finally managed to come as far as I wanted to, as I just couldn't describe the hunt as extensively as I originally anticipated. Still, I hope you liked both it and the attack on the 'outpost'. Naruto learned things that he probably could have lived with not knowing, and stepped on too many toes. Next chapter will be the betrayal, and I believe I can promise that things are going to go wild then.

So yes, humans hunt beast-folk, which for those wondering does include minotaurs and the like, believing them to be mere animals. Originally I actually planned for Naruto to witness a minotaur-hunt, but then the idea with the loxodon just hit me, and seeing as I have something planned for that particular species, it seemed like a good opportunity to introduce them.

**Encyclopedia of Gaian Species**

Loxodon  
A loxodon is a humanoid creature that greatly resembles an elephant. Its skin is gray, and the head looks like that of an African elephant, its trunk ending in two finger-like extensions. Their hands have three fingers and a thumb, enabling them to build simple burrows. They reach a size of roughly 2.5 meters, and are generally gentle herbivores, though they can react violent when they feel threatened. They live up to ninety years, and need seven years to reach adult age. Their civilization is on the level of stone-age humans on earth, meaning that they can use simple tools, but haven't proceeded much further yet. Loxodon are incapable of using magic of any kind. Their thick hide protects them from certain spells, though they have no natural resistance to magic like gremlins do. Loxodon have great strength, and should be approached carefully. Their vision is slightly inferior to a human's, but their hearing and smell are by far superior, making sneaking up on one a difficult challenge without magic. Loxodon, like all of the beast-folk, are not considered a dark race, for the reason that the light races define a dark race as one that has chosen the path of darkness, or uses Black Magic, and they do not believe the beast-folk intelligent enough for such a decision, instead seeing them as mere animals. Humans have a long-standing tradition of hunting beast-folk, which in the case of the loxodon has almost led to their extinction, with less than a thousand loxodon remaining on Gaia.

Orc  
The orcs are one of the numerous races of Gaia. Their appearance is very human, both in shape and size, the main difference being their skin, which ranges in color from green over reddish, brown and gray to black, sharper teeth, especially the large canines, and in the case of the males, the very pronounced lower jaw, which gives them a brutish look. Male orcs are built stocky and with heavy muscle, while females are lither, with proportions similar to a human female, although they have more strength. The average life-span of an orc is eighty years, with fourteen needed to grow into an adult. Orcs live in clans, which in turn live in a complicated web of alliances and rivals. One in five-hundred orcs can use magic, and while they are limited to Black Magic, they can wield it with great strength and precision. Orcs dislike burying their deceased, preferring cannibalism. Non-orcs are only eaten in times of great famine, or to honor them if they showed great skill while alive, as orcs believe that the dead rest within them instead of cold earth. Another tradition that furthered conflict with the ideals of the light races is their urge to mate, which is highest after a battle and often let out on conquered of the opposite sex. While the light races see this as simple rape, in orc-belief, conquering something means you are the superior one, and that to strengthen the conquered you should mix your genes with the lesser ones, so that their descendants will be stronger. This belief was started in great clan-wars, and is supported by their own pantheon, which is different from that of the light races, whose beliefs more or less merged into one. As such, rape after conquering something is natural for orcs, and no clan would bear a grudge for such an act, freely accepting children resulting of such matings into their midst, even if they should only be half-orcs. Many orc-traditions may seem barbaric to non-orcs, and while making perfect sense to orcs, they have not improved the dealings between orcs and the light-races.

Now onto the Q&A

Q: Will Naruto set up camp on the continental island?  
A: Yes, that will be the base of operation. There will be many things there that he can use, some easy to guess, and some will, so I hope, be completely unexpected for my readers.

Q: Naruto saved a number of lives, will that have any effect on future events?  
A: Everything has an effect on future events, that in particular.

Q: Will Naruto get any special weapons?  
A: Not immediately, but definitely yes. Two to be exact. One will just be a medium for a new power, the other total overkill, but that's all I'm willing to give away at the moment.

Well, that's all I can think of at the moment, so

Please Review


	8. Treason!

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, LotR, Warcraft, Lost Realms, or any other series from which I might borrow.

* * *

For Naruto, the next nine weeks were dull, nothing happening, until on the second day of the tenth month, something that ached his heart happened. Hagwin was called to his home, the dwarven kingdom of Belchar, in a clan-related matter.

-0-

Naruto looked at his friend, sadness clearly evident in his face. "So, you really have to go?"

Hagwin nodded. "Aye. I am a member of the Steelheart-clan, and if my clan calls me, I will answer that call. Don't worry lad, I'll be back in a few weeks, two months at most. Watch out for yerself while I'm gone, and make sure that the elf doesn't do anything stupid."

Naruto shook his head. "When will you two finally admit that you're friends?"

Hagwin gasped in mock-shock. "Friends? With an elf? Be quiet, ye'll ruin me reputation!" Then he had to laugh.

Naruto grinned, and gave the dwarf a last pat on the shoulder. "See if you can arrange some ale, eh?"

Now Hagwin roared with laughter. "A man after me own heart! I'll try ta get ye yer own barrel!" With that, he sat down on the cart his clan had sent him, pulled by four large goats.

Naruto laughed and waved, until his friend was out of sight. Then he sighed. "I'll miss him."

Celia stepped out of the shadows. Without even noticing it, she nodded. "He'll be back soon."

Naruto agreed with her, but still couldn't shake an eerie feeling.

-0-

Three weeks later, Marius called Celia to him, Naruto following her like a shadow.

Marius nodded to both, before getting to the point. "To make it short, Celia Lightwood, you are, even though you are welcome with my knights, a paladin. As such, you are under Saladin's authority. I just recently received a letter from him. He asks for your presence in the paladins' headquarters. As we currently cannot spare a horse, I'm afraid you'll have to travel by foot. You will leave as soon as possible, tomorrow would be best, so to not keep him waiting."

Celia saluted. "Understood. Do you know what it is about?"

Marius shrugged. "I do not."

Celia nodded. "Very well. By your leave?"

Marius nodded, and she left. His gaze met Naruto's for a second, then the blond was also gone. Knowing the demon's sharp hearing, he didn't even whisper the words burning on his lips, instead opting to merely think them. 'Things are falling into place.'

-0-

The next morning, Celia stood in the courtyard, ready to leave. Naruto was with her. "Well, I guess this is goodbye."

Celia smiled weakly. "Not for forever. His excellency most likely only wishes to hear of your actions from a comrade's mouth. I should be back around the time Hagwin returns. Before him, of course."

Naruto shook his head. Those two had to turn everything into a contest. "Whatever you say. Have a safe journey."

Celia seemed to ponder something, then, to his surprise, she pulled him in a hug. "Take care of yourself." Then she ran off, a slight blush on her face.

Naruto kept smiling until she was out of sight, then he tensed, preparing himself for an attack. Nothing happened, but Naruto didn't relax. Marius had probably not even realized it, but the moment their eyes had met, his had turned cold. His eyes had been just like that of the villagers.

Something was going on, and it wasn't good.

-0-

In the far kingdom of Belchar, located deep inside a mountain-range, Hagwin felt unpleasant. After a fairly comfortable journey, he had suddenly been grabbed and pushed forward to a meeting-room, effectively ruining his plan of stopping by his father first. It seemed that the council of elders really wanted to talk to him.

He was brought to an empty chair at a large marble-table, and ordered to take a seat. Hagwin bowed his head in respect, then obeyed. "It is an honor ta meet ye, great elders." Hagwin gave the traditional greeting.

The elders nodded, before Talmir, the leader of the council, turned to him. "Hagwin, son of Helmir, it is good ta meet ye as well. Yer service in the Equitatus Magicus has brought great honor ta the clan."

Hagwin's chest swelled in pride. "I serve with all me heart."

Talmir nodded. "Aye, and for that reason we called you. We heard that you now associate with one other, and an elf."

Hagwin grimaced. So this was because of the bad blood between the two races after all. "We are ordered ta fight together, and I found the elf an reliable ally ta watch me back."

Grumbles broke out, but Talmir silenced them with a gesture. "Be that as it may, we have not called ye here for that. The other one is the reason. Hagwin, son of Helmir, ye stand accused of joining forces with a demon. What do ye have to say in yer defense?"

Hagwin blinked, before he jumped up in righteous anger. Or tried to anyways, since two dwarven guards pushed him back into his seat. "The man ye speak of, Naruto Uzumaki, a hero, is a great friend, who has never failed a comrade in need before! He is no demon!"

Talmir remained calm. "We have evidence to the contrary. He was possessed in his world, then used the body to hide in ours."

Hagwin bit his lip. "Aye, a demon was imprisoned in Naruto, but he is no demon. Is the mountain a beast because the dragon lives in it?"

Talmir calmly looked at him. "Ye are ordered ta renounce all bonds with the demon, and learn of its weaknesses."

Hagwin jumped up, and this time they needed four dwarves to force him back down. "I will do no such thing! We have sworn comradeship over the tankard, and he saved me life, more than once! I would be less than a maggot ta betray such a man! I have a debt of honor, and as Naruto is neither coward nor traitor ta the clan, I am honor-bound ta aid him until I paid it back!"

Now Talmir was shocked, to hear that a member of the honorable race of the dwarves had kindled with a demon to such a degree. "Is that yer last word?" He asked.

Hagwin nodded grimly. "By me honor as a dwarf!"

Talmir sighed deeply. "Then ye leave us no choice." He pressed an ornament, and two blades shot out of hidden spots in the table in a scissor-like motion.

Hagwin stared down in shock. He had leaned back, but the blades had cut his beard, which had almost reached his knees, to a point where it just barely passed his upper chest. In dwarven culture, the loss of beard was the greatest shame a dwarf could receive, not to mention that it was the worst insult in existence.

Talmir rose. "Hagwin, for yer mingling with a demon, and the refusal to atone, ye are hereby banished. Ye no longer belong to a clan, it has rejected ye. The Order of the Equitatus Magicus has also cast ye out. Further, ye are now merely Hagwin nameless, without father. Strip him of his weapons."

Hagwin turned as white as a sheet, not moving even as the guards made a grab for his axe. A fatherless dwarf was the lowest of the low, even beggars spat at them. What travesty had he done to deserve such? Why had his father betrayed him like this?

"HALT!" A voice rang out, and the doors flew open.

Hagwin spun around, his eyes widening. "Father..."

Helmir's face was a grimace of rage. "Talmir, son of Eton, how dare ye? Ye have overstepped yer bounds!"

Talmir reacted calm. "What do ye accuse me of?"

Helmir forced himself calm. "Ye have broken dwarven law."

Now Talmir's eyes widened. Such an accusation was serious, and if it were true, then he would lose much. "Why do ye say that?"

Helmir stared him down. "Ye have spoken a punishment over me son that ye cannot decide. The only one who may declare a dwarf fatherless is his father. I have not renounced me son, how dare ye lay claim on a sacred right of a parent and make such a decision? Ye have challenged me fatherhood of Hagwin with that!"

Now mutterings broke out, while Talmir broke out into sweat. It was true, Helmir had refused to renounce his son without talking to him, and unless there was a crime against the clan or dwarven race, even then, and he had overgone him. Truth be told, Helmir had not supposed to learn of this meeting until months or preferrably years after it was over.

But Helmir wasn't done. "Also, the axe yer men are taking was forged by me, and gifted to me son. So the only one who may take it from him. Ye are again interfering with me right as his father. Are ye laying claim on Hagwin's fatherhood, accusing me dead wife of disloyalty?"

Talmir paled. Such an act would have to end in a house-feud, which in turn would lead to both families being cast out of the clan. And while they were both old, Helmir was a great smith, and would happily be taken in by almost every clan. He would not be so lucky. "I have meant no disrespect against ye or yer wife."

Helmir sneered at him. "This will not be without consequence. But for now, I will escort me banished son out of Belchar, after ye return his weapon. Know that he is still me child, and that an attack against him is an attack against me." With that, Helmir had stopped any assassination or ambush that dwarves might have set against Hagwin, as the young dwarf had committed no crime against any clan, so while his former clan couldn't attack him without insulting Helmir, the other clans could not do so without attacking the son of the smith of the Steelheart-clan, resulting in a clan-war.

The guard handed Hagwin his axe, before ducking away, not wanting to be accused of theft.

Helmir looked at his son, before taking him by the shoulder and leading him away. "Hagwin, I ask ye now. That friend of yers, was he worth it?"

Hagwin looked at his father, before he nodded. "Aye. He is the greatest comrade one could ask for, and he would never betray his friends. I am proud ta be one of them."

Helmir nodded. "I trust yer judgment, me son. You have me blessings. Do not return ta yer Order, they will strike ye down. But I worry for yer friend. Both Orders will try to kill him."

Hagwin's eyes widened. "I know he won't fall, but I must be by his side, or I am unworthy of his comradeship."

Helmir smiled. "Ye truly are the greatest son a father could wish for. I have prepared a wagon for ye, come."

Hagwin rushed after his father, knowing that even though the life he had known was gone, he had done the right thing. And now he would do so again. Even if his former clan would stand in his way.

-0-

Marius looked at the gathered group. "This is a joint-operation with the paladins. While it is only a drill, I expect you all to do your best."

Naruto raised his hand. "Why am I along then? I belong to neither order?"

Marius sighed. "There are certain... tensions between the two orders. You are the neutral party that can hopefully calm the heated tempers down."

Naruto nodded. "I see. How long will the drill take?"

"Pack for a week." Marius replied. "In two days, it begins."

-0-

Celia stood before Saladin. The leader of the paladins had just ordered her to betray Naruto for the sole reason that a demon was locked away inside of him. To her, there could only be one answer. "I refuse."

Saladin looked at her. "Reconsider."

Celia shook her head. "No. I owe him a life-debt, and I refuse to stab him in the back."

Saladin sighed. "I feared as much." He nodded, and Celia felt a presence her.

She tried to spin around, but a heavy blow struck her head, and the last thing that she heard before the world turned black was Cathesian's voice. "I would have preferred a different outcome, but we have the bait."

-0-

The drill had begun, and the situation seemed to be as tense as Marius had warned. The paladins were throwing glares at the knights, the knights were throwing glares at the paladins, and everyone was throwing glares at Naruto. And after almost two days, they hadn't even arrived at their destination yet!

Their goal was a clearing, forty miles into dense forest, and the journey there had not gone without the occasional scuffle, which Naruto broke up with a few clones. He was looking forward to doing the final few steps and reach the clearing, where he would span out a hundred clones for the twenty knights and twenty-four paladins. It was unbearably humid, everyone had already stripped themselves of their heavy armor, their chests covered only by shirts to stop branches.

Evan was sticking to Naruto, complaining loudly about the hammer-wielders while cutting down the occasional low branch with his sword. "...And why do we even have to do these joint-exercises? I know they're supposed to strengthen cooperation, but with those pansies, who can expect any cooperation? The way they..."

'Ten more feet. I just have to last ten more feet, then I can finally get a break.' Naruto thought to himself when he saw light shining through the foliage. He increased his pace.

Evan was still blabbering. "...nothing but those hammers, not even a spare-weapon, how foolish is that? I can't believe..."

Naruto froze. Slowly his eyes wandered low, where the tip of a sword was sticking out of his chest. His head turned back, looking into Evan's triumphant face. "...you fell for that." He finished.

Naruto grinned. "I didn't."

POOF

In Naruto's place, there was now a moldy piece of wood. The real Naruto stood a few feet to the left. "I knew it." He stated.

Evan stared at his sword. "How?" He asked.

Naruto smiled coldly. "I am pretty good at reading people. When Marius called Celia away, our eyes met, and his gaze turned very cold. That was all I needed to know that something was off. You eavesdropped on my conversation with Celia and Hagwin, and used that to bring him, and apparently Saladin, up against me, correct?"

Evan's face was a grimace, but he nodded.

Naruto's face gained a twinge of disgust. "I saved your life, on multiple occasions, and this is how you repay me, Evan, son of Simon?"

For a second, Evan looked shocked, before calming himself. "Life-debts do not apply to demons!" He called out.

Naruto sighed. "I should have let you die on that dusty road to Sat Gean, butchered like the trash that you are."

Evan winced at the memory, but he was saved from finding a response, by the action of his comrades.

"**Boulder Hail**!" "**Icicle Barrage**!" "**Raging Thunder**!"

Naruto jumped back, narrowly avoiding the spells that had been cast while he had talked to Evan. Naruto danced around the attackers, drawing two axes, and starting his own attack. But these men were veterans, and they predicted a number of his moves, and preventing him from going for the kill.

Another problem was that a number of them were elves, and the moment he lost sight of them, they would merge with the trees, and without giving a single indication sneak behind him to attack from unexpected angles and worst moments. Naruto quickly realized that these men knew how to fight in three dimensions. He had killed five, but at the current rate, one of them would get a lucky hit sooner or later.

"**Lancing Gale**!" came a new call. Naruto spun, but the attack was almost point-blank, leaving him with not enough time to dodge. He was blown back.

Breaking through foliage, Naruto landed on the clearing. Here, he would have an easier time, seeing that not only could he move more freely, but the knights would feel better, since they could maneuver better, which also made them more predictable. They were soldiers, and as such suckers for formations.

"So you survived. I expected no less from 'The Legion' himself. Then again, demons are very resilient critters. But this is not your world, go back to hell." A new voice called out. Naruto recognized it as Cathesian's. He spun around... and his eyes widened in horror.

-0-

A hundred knights and paladins had gathered on the clearing, each of them having already cast a spell, only holding them on the last syllable to fire, over three-thousand soldiers standing a distance behind them, weapons ready, but that was not what shocked Naruto to the core.

There was a large wagon in the front of the soldiers, fifteen men in front of it, one on it. And before that man, there was a large wooden cross, and tied on it, Celia, in nothing but a short white underdress. She hung lifeless, and blood covered her face, staining the white cloth.

Cathesian stood ten feet in front of the front-lines, muttering an incantation. "By the things that forged you and no longer are, by mountain's root and woman's beard, bird's spit and fish's breath, by cat's step's sound, I merge thee to bind this foe. By the great bound beast and the one-handed god, in thy name I call upon this **Divine Thread**!"

White light surrounded Naruto, wrapping around him like strings, and anchoring themselves in the ground. Naruto ignored it. "What are you doing?" He asked.

Cathesian smiled. "You need not know demon. FIRE!" The last thing Cathesian saw before an Armageddon of magic came down and tore the ground asunder was that with a roar, Naruto tore through the high-level binding spell, then the world broke into pandemonium.

-0-

As the dust settled, many did not believe their eyes. Before them stood Naruto Uzumaki. Granted, he was bleeding from countless wounds, his left leg was badly burned, and a spear of ice was lodged in his stomach, but he was standing nonetheless, his eyes still focused on Cathesian.

"I'll ask you again, what did you do to her?" Naruto asked, his voice dangerously quiet.

Cathesian grinned. It was working. Celia was the bait. Her state would enrage Naruto, and a angry enemy was a reckless enemy, a reckless enemy was a careless enemy, and a careless enemy was as good as dead. "She associated with a demon, and as such will be punished for treason."

"So you'll just kill her?" Naruto demanded, the anger beginning to creep into his voice.

Cathesian sneered. "It is law among all elves not lost to the dark that an elf does not kill another elf. Celia, renounced from the house of Lightwood, will face our hardest punishment for her refusal of atonement. The gift of vision will be taken from her. Namail, do your duty."

Naruto's eyes widened as the elf on the cart pulled out a dagger, and prepared to swing it in a motion that would without a doubt cut both eyes, and half of Celia's face, open.

Cathesian felt a gale, then Naruto was gone. He spun around, and his eyes widened at what he saw. "NAMAIL!"

The blade was stopped less than an inch from Celia's skin, handle and the hand holding it crushed in Naruto's vice-like grip. But what truly horrified those present was that the hand that stopped the blade seemed to grow directly out of the elf's chest. Naruto had punched through the elf, and elven steel armor, like it was butter, skewering the long-eared executioner on his right arm.

Those in front of the cart recovered from the shock first, and moved to attack. Naruto's left arm, hand pulled into a claw, slashed out, and every one of the fifteen men was instantly reduced to a red mist.

Ignoring the carnage he caused, Naruto flung the dead elf from his arm, and cut through Celia's bindings with his bare nails, before gently taking her into a bridal-hold and carried her off the wagon, where he gently placed her on the ground, before looking her over.

She was still breathing, and aside from a wound on her head, which had clotted shut already, she seemed unharmed. Still, his blood boiled when he saw her, so weak and delicate.

Nine of the paladins that had accompanied Naruto thought they saw their chance and rushed at him. They stopped a foot away from him, and all swung their hammers as one, aiming downward so that Naruto would have to block or risk Celia taking the hit.

Evan however focused his mage-sight as much as he could, as there had been something around the blond boy that had always bothered him. He saw it now, there were long black shades circling around Naruto. What was that, snakes? Suddenly one of them lashed out, aiming for a sweep to the hammers.

Both knights and paladins witnessed something that they had never believed possible. The nine crystal-hammers, charged with incredible amounts of White Magic, hard enough to have withstood mythril-blades, simply shattered like glass.

"Impossible!" Cathesian called out, as nothing had ever shattered a paladin's hammer.

"Mage-sight!" Evan called out "There's something around him!"

Cathesian focused, and as an elf, he saw it more clearly. "Tails! There are nine phantasmal tails coming from him!"

Naruto raised his head, his eyes closed. Then they snapped open, and the world twisted in pain.

-0-

Naruto had since he had arrived in this world, always held a firm grip on his _Sakki_, the killing intent only breaking out on a few occasions, and even then it had been restrained. Now he unleashed it all as his left arm lowered to the ground, until he was practically crouching over Celia.

The nine paladins surrounding him died on the spot, their hearts unable to stand such a sudden burst of murder. All others were less lucky.

The wave of anger and hatred forced almost all to their knees, the pressure suddenly too much to bear. Horrible images flashed through the attackers' minds, they literally felt themselves being slaughtered over and over. A quarter of their number simply couldn't take it, and raised their weapons against themselves.

The ground cracked beneath Naruto's feet, and bolts of raw energy flashed up around him. The grass dried up, and leaves that floated nearby spontaneously combusted.

Cathesian was one of the few still standing, if barely. So he was one of those that actually heard Naruto speak.

"What have you done, lowest of the low! You dare lay hand on her, you who are less than the dirt beneath my feet! You dare touch my comrade? YOU DARE HURT WHAT'S MINE?" The shock-wave scattered the warriors like leaves.

One of the effects of the merge was that Naruto had acquired certain aspects of a demon's mindset, and demons had a very strong sense of ownership. Mortal friends and dear ones were always, on some level, belongings, and nobody touched a demon's belongings without their consent.

The earth itself shook under Naruto's power, felt as an almost global earthquake on Gaia, though few could feel what the slight rumble really meant.

-0-

On a tower built over a city into the mountain-side, a pair of weary golden eyes snapped open. "The light-side has grown arrogant, but to this extend? Those fools, what have they unleashed?"

-0-

A pair of blue eyes opened, ignorant to the beauty of the surrounding nature. Their owner frowned in worry as she felt the tremors. "The earth trembles... beneath the anger of a god."

-0-

In a secret facility hidden deep beneath the surface, rows of heads snapped up at the rumbling. Those that had a different gift were quickly informed, and for the first time in years, those who were imprisoned at that place laughed.

And despite the efforts of the wardens, which included generous amounts of physical force, the prisoners laughed and laughed and laughed.

-0-

Cathesian was getting the feeling that involving Celia in the attack had been a very foolish idea. It seemed that the conventional logic had lulled them into a false sense of security, as in this particular case, it seemed that an angry enemy was simply one that would strike without mercy.

Naruto proved him right a moment later. Black energy was emitted from him, slowly covering him and his phantasmal tails, until all that they could see was a black humanoid figure with nine tails, and glowing white spots as eyes. Then the mouth, or rather maw, opened, nothing more than a large jagged tear in the creatures head, which also had two long extensions resembling ears. The voice that came out of that maw sent shivers down all spines.

"_**Originally I planned to disable you all and leave, but for this, YOU. WILL. PAY!"**_

Another burst of energy, and instead of the figure, a nine-tailed fox the size of a draft-horse with humanoid arms stood before them, its red fur crackling with energy.

The panicked warriors fired spell after spell at the fox, but the beast simply let its tails swish, odd distortions around each of them, and the spells puffed away on contact, without doing any damage. In reply, the fox's chest swelled slightly, before it spat out a stream of fire.

The flames were unusual, a dark crimson with black flickers, and whatever got caught in the stream burned like cinders. The fox turned on the spot, encasing the clearing in a ring of fire that blocked all exits. The only ones that escaped where Evan, who had run into the forest before the counter-attack began, and the normal soldiers, who were outside of the circle.

The fox roared in triumph at the burning bodies, less than ten enemies left not burning, plus the soldiers outside. However, the roar was a word. _**"PEEERRRRRIIIIIIIIIISSSSHHHH!"**_

Cathesian looked around, realizing the hopelessness of their situation. He recognized the flames from a summoning gone wrong he witnessed once, and knew that he was trapped in hellfire. The fox had turned into an explosion of red mist a second before roaring, reforming into a larger version of itself that towered over the highest trees. The fox was the size of a mountain, and Cathesian understood why the people of Naruto's world had resorted to sealing such a beast away. Its Demon Magic, a magic foreign to their world, was so potent that, without being used for more as a show of force, it twisted the concept of their world, creating distortions in the form of void spaces that swallowed all, and using those as a shield against their magic. This thing was no mere demon, it was a demon-lord, and Cathesian could think of no spell outside of the lost Divine Magic that could even hinder this beast. Knowing what would come next, he sat down, placed his weapon on his side, and spoke a prayer to Valir. He looked up just in time to see a hand the size of a castle come down, crushing him and all other survivors to dust.

-0-

Evan stared at the giant beast as it roared in triumph and anger. He couldn't believe his eyes. This beast had been sealed away in Naruto? He had been restraining this beast, this incarnation of destruction, the entire time? What had he unleashed?

When he heard that a demon was sealed into Naruto, he had assumed that it had been one like those they summoned for their blades, and scoffed at the weakness of the people of Naruto's world. Now, he wondered what monsters they were that they could even seal such a creature, if only temporary.

Still, now he had to save his hide. So while the fox slaughtered the three-thousand normal, non-magical soldiers in a way not unlike a man crushing ants, he fled into the forest, hoping to be forgotten by the horrible monster he had helped unleash.

-0-

Naruto knew that something was off. He had completely transformed into Kyuubi, yet that feeling of influence was not there. He had full control of everything, his own rage the only thing that influenced him. What was going on?

Suddenly he found himself in his mindscape. It was still a sewer, only now it seemed oddly melted, as if it was in the process of becoming something new, but hadn't really started yet. He walked to the Kyuubi's cage, wanting answers. His eyes widened when he saw it.

The cage was gone. Instead, there was a small bulge outwards, in which a white orb rested. A few strands of white mist were hovering outside of the orb, which now that he looked closer was also comprised of that mist. He touched the strands, and suddenly they were absorbed into him, while he heard a jumble of what had to be Kyuubi's thoughts.

_**'A summoning? I'll follow...what's going...merge?...must be dominant mind...the seal!...Nononono!...I don't want to...'**_

Naruto blinked. What was the meaning of that? Going by the few fragments he had, it seemed that Kyuubi had felt the summoning, and given into it, which probably explained why Gaia seemed so unprepared for demons of Kyuubi's power, since they'd probably see it as beneath them to follow the call of a mere mortal. After that, Naruto guessed that the interdimensional travel had somehow merged him and Kyuubi. There had been a struggle for control that Naruto couldn't remember, but it seemed that thanks to the seal, he had come out on top.

Did that mean that he was now the Kyuubi? Rethinking it, he decided that the answer to that was no. He was something born from both the Kyuubi no Kitsune and Naruto Uzumaki, an amalgam of sorts. The white orb was probably Kyuubi's knowledge, which he had not yet absorbed.

After a short moment of temptation, Naruto decided that he'd do that later, as right now, he had unfinished business outside.

-0-

Silence had returned to the clearing. The last dying scream had been cut off, and only two things were still living. The fox roared one final time, before it burst into red particles that reformed into the shape of Naruto Uzumaki, who dropped to his knees in exhaustion, panting heavily. Then he heard a groan.

"So that was your true power?" Celia asked. She had apparently woken up, and was already sitting upright, looking at him with an unreadable expression.

Naruto stared at her, his eyes wide with shock. The one thing he had wanted to avoid at all costs was that she or Hagwin saw him like that. "That was the demon residing in me, unleashed." He answered.

Celia grabbed her head, and tried to get up. Naruto was beside her in an instant, supporting her. She neither stiffened nor pushed him away. "Naruto, what happened?"

Naruto sighed. "Well..."

In short words, Naruto told her what had occurred. Celia was shocked to hear she had been used as bait, horrified when she learned that they had planned to blind her, and nearly in tears when Naruto told her that Cathesian had said that she had been banished from the house of Lightwood. Still, she steeled herself, to avoid breaking down, and looked at Naruto. "What now?"

Naruto growled. "There is a rat that I still need to hunt down, the one responsible for all this."

Celia's eyes widened. "Evan? But how will you find him?"

Naruto looked down. "Right now, despite my current state, my instincts are so sharp, I can smell him in the air. I can hear your heart, and even feel the vibration of your movements through the earth. He won't escape me."

-0-

Evan ran for his life. He had stampeded through the forest, swam through a few small streams, before finally standing before an old ruin of sort. Without thinking, he had ran into it, going deeper and deeper into the corridors, climbing down staircases that led below ground, hoping for a hiding-place where he was safe. He knew that his actions were cowardly, but as the only survivor, he had to warn the knights, the paladins, the kingdoms, everyone. They would need every soldier they could get to deal with this threat.

His eyes widened when he saw that he had run into a dead end. The passageway had been shut with bricks, and even though there were a few small holes revealing that there was something behind it, he didn't have the time to dig himself through the wall. He spun around, intending to take a different passage... and his legs turned to jello.

Before him stood Naruto and Celia, looking at him with cold eyes. He noticed that both were dressed differently, probably having taken clothing from some of Naruto's victims, and that Naruto was looking a lot worse for wear, panting heavily with swear running down his face. He laughed nervously. "Hehehe, Celia, Naruto, fancy meeting you two here. New clothes?"

Naruto shrugged. "Well, we fixed up a few unrecognizable corpses so that anyone looking for indications of what happens will think we're dead. You know, to avoid that whole bounty-on-our-heads-thing."

Evan grimaced. "Very clever. Well, you two might want to be alone, so I'll just..." He began, before making a mad dash, trying to get past him.

Naruto grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall, which gave way under the blow, causing both to fall through the hole, which lead into a chamber. Torches ignited, but both ignored it.

Evan had tears in his eyes. "I don't want to die." He begged.

Naruto tilted his head. For a second Evan gained hope, before Naruto spoke. "I want to kill you."

Evan soiled himself.

Celia walked into the chamber, her eyes focused on something further inward. "By the gods, I thought they were only myths."

Naruto and Evan followed her gaze, and the situation was momentarily forgotten.

-0-

Before them, in a kneeling position with arms suspended by two chains, was a figure. It had the shape and size of a man, and from what could be seen from its arms and legs, it was heavily armored. It's head and body were covered by a robe with hood, which hid the face in shadows. A sword's hilt with a few inches of blade was sticking out of the hood, from the looks of it the sword had been rammed into the figure's head. It hung lifelessly in its chains.

"What is that?" Naruto asked.

Evan's eyes were wide as dinner-plates. "One of the nine fallen kings."

Naruto blinked. "What?"

Celia spoke up. "They say that around 200.000 years ago, there was a mighty dark lord, his name is long forgotten. Either way, this lord offered power, and nine kings fell to his temptations. They joined him, and fought against the light races. They were all captured and killed, but the dark lord, some claim as a reward, some say to keep his best generals, somehow brought them back to life, as undead of a type unheard of before of since. They retained their skills, but they could no longer be killed by any means, returning to the battlefield no matter how often they received fatal wounds, by blade or magic, for you cannot kill what is already dead. Eventually, the dark lord was destroyed, but his generals did not perish with him. So to end the threat they posed, sacred blades were forged, and rammed into their heads. As long as those blades remained in place, they would be as corpses. But since they still couldn't be destroyed, they were hidden away in places that were carefully hidden from the world."

Evan gulped. "They are legends, infamous to the point that mothers still use their name to scare their children. They are the Nazgûl."

* * *

Chapter 8 is done. Yep, right now I definitely am working most for this story, probably because I finally want it to reach a certain point plot-wise. But again, I don't make any promises regarding the next update, I never do. It makes you look unreliable if you can't keep them.

Well, I finally reached the actual betrayal. Yes, it's overkill, but Naruto has finally learned that he and Kyuubi are now one, though he still has millenniums of knowledge to go through before he really is Kyuubi's successor. And for those worrying, there are consequences for going full-Kyuubi, so no, Naruto won't turn into a giant fox and crush all opposition on every occasion. Right now, there are two effects on Naruto, who is barely fighting them off at the moment. For one thing, his mass was scattered through the large Kyuubi, so after reassembling, the smallest movements bring Naruto great pain, though he currently bites through, not wanting Evan to get away. The second consequence is that Naruto is barely holding on to consciousness, and will soon lose it for a longer period of time. Don't worry though, Evan will die before that happens.

And yes, Hagwin and Celia are true friends, and they will stand by his side to the end, not that they'd have anywhere else to go. For one thing because they are good, and partly because Naruto will need different perspectives to be able to properly plan once his kingdom stands. Of course, their presence may initially cause some friction, but what fun would it be if things always went smooth, and aside from that, it's not like they'd be the first traitors to the light.

Many beings have felt Naruto's power, and few could tell what it was, the trumpet proclaiming the beginning of the end of an era. The three that I explicitly mentioned are all three completely different, though they will all become allies to Naruto. Anyone care to make a few guesses about possible identities?

Oh, and if you want to know what Naruto's Kyuubi-roar sounded like, enter Drakengard 2 Angelus's hatred in youtube. That, only loud as thunder. There are two more quotes hidden in this chapter, I wonder if you can find it, and name the series it's from. One hint, they're both anime.

And yes, I decided to use the Nazgûl, mainly because I find them awesome. But as you read, I worked them into my story, changing a few things in their history. For one thing, there is neither the One Ring, nor those that corrupted the Nine in LotR. The dark lord that created them used a unknown mean to make grant them immortality through undeath, and yes, that also means that they won't die permanently if slain by a woman, and that includes the Witch-king. There will be a few more differences, but those will be explained in future chapters. All I'll say now is that the Nine will be generals in Naruto's army, as is their purpose.

As for what dark race Naruto will meet first? Which one do you think it will be? On that topic, any more suggestions for races?

To the Q&A

Q: Was the bashing of Kakashi in the first chapter really necessary?  
A: Perhaps the final punishment was a bit cruel, but I wanted to do something aside from those either complete-exaggeration- or slap-on-the-wrist-punishments that have been done a hundred times before. And yes, it had to be at the VotE, and it had to be Kakashi. I needed a situation where Naruto had at least some skills, yet his loyalty to Konoha could be broken, as otherwise, he would never thrive in Gaia, searching for a way home.

Q: The toads man, where are the giant toads?  
A: Sorry, but as I said before, that won't be used. The contract was broken when Naruto left Terra, as that is where the contract calls, not to mention that thanks to the merge, Naruto's blood is no longer that which is in the scroll, which would destroy the connection anyways. I actually planned to have a scene where Naruto would try to summon toads, but I never found a situation where such a big gun would be necessary. Alright, the siege would have been a maybe, but Naruto didn't want to give away such an ace in front of so many people. Heck, he hasn't even shown the _henge_ yet, and that's about as low-class technique as they come, though his seems to be slightly different.

Well, that's all for now,

Please Review


	9. Out cold

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

* * *

Naruto stared at the bound figure before him. What he felt from this Nazgûl was confusing, to say the least. A feeling of dread seemed to waver around it, together with an odd aura, reminding him of the magics he had felt when the orc-shaman had fought, but slightly different.

Not knowing what else to do, he focused on Kyuubi's knowledge and the word 'Nazgûl', hoping that it would allow him to gain more than random knowledge. A few seconds later, he knew all that Kyuubi knew of these warriors of a forgotten era. It was surprisingly much, considering that the nine had originally been humans, and that humans who couldn't use Divine Magic, which were most, were generally beneath a demon's notice. It wasn't as much as Naruto would have liked, but it would have to do.

Naruto took a deep breath, mobilizing his last reserves, and looked at Celia. "Hold this rat down for a bit, would you?"

Celia blinked, but obediently moved, changing Evan's position from laying on his back to laying on his stomach with a well-aimed kick, before twisting his arms on his back and taking seat on him to keep the traitorous knight pinned.

Naruto meanwhile stepped before the bound creature, piercing it with his stare. Then he grabbed the hilt of the blade, and before either of the other two could as much as shout, he pulled the blade out.

A shudder went through the body, the shaking steadily increasing, before the creatures head, still hidden in the darkness of its hood, snapped up. A shrill screech echoed through the ruin, reaching into the deepest parts of the minds of those who heard it, where long-forgotten instincts laid. The instincts felt by the smallest mammals when surrounded by giants. A primal, uncontrollable fear that told them to run and never stop.

Except for Naruto. His mind had changed with the merge, and demons of Kyuubi's kind had never in their entire existence felt such a fear. Instead, what the screech woke was the demonic rage and battle-lust when facing a strong enemy.

So while the other two shivered in fear, Naruto's face split into an insane grin, before he regained control. _**"SILENCE!"**_ he roared, still not able to entirely suppress the demonic instincts awakened by the Nazgûl's cry.

The hooded creature indeed stopped, and looked at Naruto. _"You smell of demon, and of human, but you are neither. Why have you woken me?"_

Naruto looked into the darkness where the eyes should be. "Tell me Nazgûl, what do you feel? How is the state of the world?"

Both elf and human blinked in confusion. "What is he trying to do?" Celia wondered.

The Nazgûl looked up, seemingly sniffing the air, before looking back at Naruto. _"The world's balance is disturbed. There is too little darkness, too much light."_

Evan sneered from his position. "Bah! Spoken like a creature of darkness. Too little darkness? Ridiculous! As long as even one creature of Darkness lives, there is too much darkness!"

The Nazgûl looked at him, and pity seemed to vibrate in its voice. _"Child, do not speak of things you do not understand. Gaia needs the darkness just as much as it needs the light. It is the balance of the two that keeps the world in harmony. From your words, and the broken balance, I gather that you fools are trying to exterminate the darkness. By now you should have already experienced the first signs of danger, and you still act so foolish?"_

Celia gulped. "Great Nazgûl, what would be a sign of disturbed balance?"

The ancient being looked at her. _"The disturbance of nature's order, and the cycle of life and death. Those that die cannot find peace, as their souls are blinded by the overflow of light and cannot reach the afterlife, and as such will reanimate their bodies. At first only as skeletons and simple zombies, but the further the balance unhinges, the worse it will become. Necro Magic, a magic that normally is very difficult to create, begins to occur naturally, a sign of great danger. The next steps would be that even animals can no longer rest in peace, after that the reanimated will become intelligent and skillful. After that, there are only calculations, but according to them, there only three more steps. The first would be that magicians become Lichs after death, without having gone through the extensive ceremonies normally needed to do so. The next step is that spirits wander the world, impervious to physical harm and most magics, tearing the souls of the living apart. The final step is supposed to occur a few centuries after the complete extinction of darkness, or light. The concept of death collapses, and every being that dies will reanimate again and again, as a spirit if their body is destroyed. Some even theorized that those that had passed on would be torn out of the afterlife and thrown back to Gaia. Either way, that would be the end of life as it was known. Only after the other side, in our case it would probably be light, is extinct the balance may recover, and the gods or evolution can try to repopulate our planet."_

Shocked silence followed those words, until Celia spoke. "So you're saying that the Undead are not a punishment for a sin we have committed, or as others claim that we left the dark races for so long, but in fact the result of us killing too many? And the dark races are not a plague, but a vital part of Gaia?"

The Nazgûl nodded. _"That is correct."_

Naruto looked at him. "Tell me Nazgûl, if I release you, what will you do?"

The armored figure turned its attention back on Naruto. _"As a being of Darkness, I would fight on their side. As one of the Nine, I would look for the others. As a Nazgûl, I would seek to find what we wish for, though only the Witch-king may make the final decision."_

Naruto looked at the being before him, and despite knowing the answer, asked "And what do the Nazgûl wish for?"

The cloaked being looked at him through the darkness. _"A master. We are warriors, we are generals, but we are not rulers. We exist to serve, that is our purpose."_

Naruto smiled. The Nazgûl had been made as servants, and since no lord wished for a rebellion, the Nazgûl's master had ensured they would not betray him. The Nazgûl were essentially programmed to serve a master, a deep fall from the kings they had once been. Still, despite the Nazgûl's loyalty, Naruto, or rather Kyuubi, had gathered knowledge of how to avoid their indestructibility, so that it could destroy them should the need arise. He had come up with two, though only one was easily doable. The first, the one Kyuubi may have some trouble with, was a spell of Divine Magic, which even those mages had declared forbidden, **Phantom Destruction**. The second one was actually ridiculously simple compared to the first, simply throw the Nazgûl into the void created by large amounts of Demon Magic. As such, Naruto had little worry with asking the next question, as he knew the Nazgûl would be loyal at least until the Witch-king was free. "Will you join me, then?"

The hooded head tilted. After an entire minute of silence, the immortal nodded. _"Until the Witch-king is free, I offer you my service... master."_

Naruto lowered his head in acceptance. Then he shrugged. "In that case you can drop the act and get up."

The Nazgûl let out a noise that sounded like chains being dragged over a stone-floor. It took Celia a moment to understand that it was laughing. _"So you saw through that, as well? I have chosen a worthy master."_ With that, he stood up, and gripped the chains binding his arms. He pulled, and while the chains themselves had more than enough strength to withstand his might, they were secured to ceiling, which consisted of mere stone, and broke.

Even while the Nazgûl moved away, Naruto created seven clones, that grabbed Evan and pulled him to the position the ancient being had just emptied. "Well Evan," He explained in an almost apologetic voice "I hope you understand that should someone else come here, it may cause a panic if they find that the Nazgûl is gone. But I really don't feel very good right now, and we really don't need additional attention on us. So I'm afraid that you'll need to take it's place. Call it poetic justice. I saved your life, and now I'm taking it." With that, Naruto drew a blade he had snatched from one of the dead soldiers, and rammed it into Evan's forehead.

A second later, the seven clones had steadied Evan's corpse, one draping himself around the dead man's shoulders while the other six formed two people-chains on Evan's sides. They called out "_Henge!_", and a cloud of smoke covered the chamber.

A second later, the chamber looked like it had before, only with a few more bloodstains. A hooded and armored figure was kneeling in the chamber's center, it's arms bound by chains that were attached to the ceiling.

Celia, still completely confused with the happenings of the last ten minutes, looked at Naruto. "How long will that hold?" she asked, referring to the illusion.

Naruto stumbled towards her, sweat running down his face. "Until it gets... a strong hit." He forced out, beginning to sway. "Celia,... I... don't feel so... goo-" Then he collapsed against her.

"Naruto?" Celia shot out in surprise, before worry took over. "Hey, Naruto, what's wrong?"

The Nazgûl sniffed. _"He reeks of Demon Magic. His entire body seems to be strained with it. Has he used large amounts of demonic energy for something?"_

Celia's eyes widened. "Of course! It's a magical exhaustion! He turned into a gigantic fox, as large as a city, and higher than most towers! That had to have put a tremendous strain on his body! Oh Naruto, why do you do stuff like that? Always overdoing it..." she muttered fondly, while gently stroking the unconscious boy's face. A moment later, she shook her head, as if to shake off her daydreams, and pulled one of Naruto's arms over her neck, half-carrying, half-dragging Naruto out of the ruins. She knew they couldn't stay, as Marius and Saladin would soon start a search for their missing men.

The Nazgûl followed silently.

-0-

Marius stared at the scene of the battle in disbelief. Even now, three days after the battle, the smell of burning flesh was still present, accompanied by the scent of blood, and because it had been hot and humid, the stink of rotting corpses. The men had made three petitions to order the bodies burned, and Marius saw no way of declining a fourth. The bodies had rotten away beyond recognition, and unless they started burning, the first Dead would soon rise, and one of the worst kind of Dead too, Plaguebringers. Diseased bodies, spreading their own decay as they walked, poisoning man, animal, springs, wells, and the very earth they walked on. Marius knew better than to risk even one of those things escaping. He sighed deeply as he looked at two corpses, one burned to charcoal, with only the remains of a white dress giving away the identity, the other one crushed to a meaty paste by large boulders. "All this death, just to put down two people."

While technically a success, this operation had cost them much. Good people had died here, and while it was impossible to count all corpses, there had so far been no news of even a single survivor. Even more disturbing, it was impossible to tell what exactly had killed many of the soldiers, the corpses resembling nothing Marius had ever seen on such a scale.

"General Marius." A soldier approached him, bowing.

Marius waved his hand. "Report."

The soldier straightened. "Sir! The men are doing what they can, but even with the aid of the paladins, there are simply too many to grant the proper burial. Unless we act soon, I'm afraid that we won't even be able to burn all of the corpses in time to prevent a resurrection."

Marius sighed deeply. "Very well. It seems we have no other choice. Burn the bodies. The safety of the men is more important. The gods will understand, and forgive, the hastened burials."

The soldier saluted, before running to spread the news.

Marius on the other hand drank in the scene, and wondered if this operation wasn't really a great loss, and not the victory it was proclaimed by the heralds. The casualties were horrible, and Marius couldn't help but shiver, a bad feeling spreading in his gut.

For some reason, Marius felt that this was only the beginning.

-0-

Celia felt the first tinges of real despair. She had, more or less on her own, managed to get Naruto's unconscious body out of the ruins, at which point she could use the superior physical strength elves possessed to carry him away, but one problem remained. They had no supplies. They had no food, no warm clothes, not even a roof above their heads.

As a paladin, she was used to hardship. Especially considering she was still in training, spartan living-arrangements were normal for her, as were even extended periods outside, but even then, she had at least had a sleeping-bag. Now, she was supposed to look out for two, with little more than a bow and arrows she had swiped, and a dagger. Naruto still had a sword and dagger of his own, but right now was in no condition to use it, and neither would be that good for hunting for food.

The Nazgûl was no help. First of all, the damn thing just melted in the shadows, and was gone for hours, until Celia half-hoped, half-worried that it had run off, at which point it gave subtle signs of its presence. Seeing that the thing was undead, it felt neither cold nor tired, and the hooded being, wherever it was sneaking around right now, probably couldn't even remember the last time it ate, let alone had to hunt for food. So in that aspect, she was completely on her own. And honestly, she had no idea what to do now.

-0-

Hearing the sound of a carriage, Celia ducked deeper into the shadows. She didn't want to become a bandit, but perhaps there was something she could snatch while nobody was looking. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and even the Order of the Paladins followed the policy that, in times of need, property was a very loose term.

But before she could make a decision, she heard an oddly familiar voice. "CELIA! NARUTO! IT'S ME! I HOP... KNOW YE'RE OUT HERE SOMEWHERE! COME OUT!"

Celia blinked in shock. "Hagwin?" Despite knowing it may be a trap, Celia couldn't help but hope for a friendly face. Naruto was laying hidden a few feet back, and she decided that it was a personal risk she was willing to take. Carefully, like a tigress cornering a larger prey, Celia circled the carriage, which had stopped almost directly in front of her.

The cart was pulled by goats instead of horses, as was tradition with dwarves. It was a large cart, with room for at least six people, including supplies and a place to sleep. Frankly, it seemed almost too good to be true.

Celia remained hidden, an arrow ready to fire. "HAGWIN?" She called back. "ARE YOU ALONE?"

The dwarf looked up, and Celia almost let go of the bow-string in surprise. Hagwin's beard had been cut, no longer approaching the knees, but stopping mid-chest. It seemed that she had not been the only one to be cast aside by her people. She stepped into the road.

Hagwin seemed relieved to see her. "By the mountains' roots, I'm glad ye're alive. How is Naruto?"

Celia gave him a look. "He's alive." She answered vaguely, before frowning. "How did you find us?"

The dwarf frowned. "That's a weird and fairly long story, that shouldn't be told here. We should leave this place, the wagon me father gave me has provisions, clothes, weapons, and water for a wash." He added mirthfully, earning a twitch from the exhausted elf. Celia looked Hagwin in the eyes, before nodding and vanishing into the wood-works, before reappearing, Naruto draped over her shoulders, followed by a hooded figure.

The goats ground their hooves nervously as the figure moved to the back of the carriage, but Hagwin didn't react beyond narrowing his eyes.

Celia gave him a glance, but was currently too tired to care. Even though she would never admit it, the dwarf was one of the few people she would blindly trust with her life, with the only other one currently laying lifelessly in the carriage. Closing her eyes, she allowed sleep to finally claim her.

-0-

After she woke, Celia sat next to Hagwin, who was directing the goats. "No more excuses Hagwin." She bluntly stated. "You knew where we were, and you weren't surprised about the tag-along. What's going on?"

The dwarf sighed. "Well, ye probably guessed what happened ta me from me beard. I was ta be stripped of everything, but me father intervened, told me he was proud of what I did, and gave me this wagon here, and the advice ta not return ta the Order. I traveled around more or less clueless, until I had an odd meeting. I was just driving by a field of wheat, when..."

-0-

_Flashback_

Hagwin was driving past the field of wheat, trying to avoid the looks of the other living soul around, a young human boy harvesting, was giving him.

His thoughts wandered to his friends, and he wondered if they were even still alive.

"They are." Came a voice out of nowhere. Hagwin's head snapped up, and he looked into the azure eyes of the boy.

"What?" He asked.

The boy smiled. "No worries, noble dwarf, I am not an enemy. You seek your comrades, don't you? Travel east, to the Einash Forest. The road will fork, take the left path. Head straight for three crossing roads, then take the next right. Follow the path until you reach a clearing. Rest there for the night, then continue. Take every left turn, and after three, stop a hundred yards after the last fork and call out for your friends. They will be there, together with the first of many servants. You must hurry, for without you, they will perish."

Hagwin stared at the boy. "Who are ye?" He demanded.

The boy smiled again. "My name is of no importance. Hurry, or they will die. It is the only hint of their location you have, so it's not like you have anything to lose."

Hagwin nodded reluctantly, turning the goats eastwards. But before leaving, he paused once more. "Why are ye helping me?"

The boy, who had returned to his work on the field like nothing had happened, paused. For the first time, he looked surprised. "I am helping you, for that which must occur. For the one who must not fall, for the future, and a better tomorrow." When he smiled this time, it was a darker smile, that sent shudders down Hagwin's spine. "What I do, I do for the master. For the one we both will serve. All is for the rise of Contra Mundi."

At that moment, a new voice rang out. "EDWARD! ARE YOU SLACKING OFF AGAIN?"

Suddenly the mysterious air was gone, and the boy was again a simple boy. "NO FATHER! I'M HELPING A TRAVELLER!"

Hagwin blinked, and decided that if the boy spoke the truth, then he should get going. For Naruto and Celia.

_End of Flashback_

-0-

"And that's how I found ye all." Hagwin finished.

Celia was silent for a long time, before she looked at the dwarf. "I can think of only one explanation. The boy was a Psi."

Hagwin nodded. "Aye. That was me conclusion as well."

Celia frowned. "Still, why would a Psi help us? Why would a Psi help anyone?"

Hagwin nodded. "The lad knows something we don't. But worrying about it now will only gray beards."

Celia sighed. "I wouldn't want to trade Naruto in for the world, but life was much easier before he came."

Hagwin absentmindedly played with the end of his beard. "Aye. More shallow and boring, but easier."

-0-

The journey went without hitch for three more days. Hagwin and Celia took turns watching Naruto, the dwarf as a fellow male getting the less pleasant job of washing Naruto and disposing his... waste, while Celia fed him. On the early afternoon of the fourth day, something unexpected happened.

While driving through the forest, Hagwin found that the tracks of what appeared to be a caravan, so recent that they could only be a few hours old. Celia and Hagwin argued on whether or not to proceed for almost an hour, eventually reanalyzing the footprints, and after ensuring that they were all made by civilian-shoes, decided that it should be safe enough.

As the sun set, they found the caravan on a clearing they themselves had been considering to use for a night's rest.

Their reception was... unusual, to say the least.

-0-

Looking around, Hagwin clearly saw that the group that had gathered here, at least forty-to-fifty people, probably more were a caravan of merchants. These groups traveled, often with entire families in tow, from city to city and country to country for different merchandise. The fact that many had different skin-tones only supported this. The tents were clearly those of merchants, a bit gaudy, and some fancy stuff flashed here and there, not to mention wagons, both for living and transporting goods. However, their behavior was off.

Normally merchants were a cheerful bunch, it wasn't rare to find jugglers, harlequins and other entertainers in their midst, and any merchant was always up for a good bargain. So the usual reception would be perhaps a bit of wariness to see if one was up to no good, and otherwise a fairly cheerful welcome, but here, the atmosphere was tense. Fearful glances were sent their way, quiet muttering broke out, children were hiding behind their parents, clutching onto them for protection.

Hagwin tensed under the atmosphere, and without giving any indication, muttered to Celia while they were still out of earshot. "I'm a dwarven merchant, ye're a guard that my guild has supplied against me protest, got it?"

Celia nodded almost imperceptibly, her hand inching towards her blade as they got closer and closer to the group on the side of the road. When the distance shrank to twenty feet, a man stepped forward, and Hagwin stopped his wagon.

The man was impressive. A human, almost two meters tall, wide as a bear, with bulging muscles clearly visible on his bare arms. Still, he didn't look grotesque, but in fact intimidating, and even charming. His face was lean, raven hair spiking slightly from his head, and piercing emerald eyes. A small scar went down his left cheek, the only mar in a face that could have been crafted by the gods. The man smiled. "Greetings travelers. I am Isegrim, the current leader of this caravan. I hope you forgive us the reception, we've been going through some hard times lately, and we've learned to become distrusting of strangers in a lonely forest as this. Where are you headed?"

Hagwin gave a friendly smile, for the first time grateful that he had lost part of his beard. The length of a beard spoke of the position of a dwarf, and merchants were not permitted as long beards as warriors. Since Hagwin had fixed his appearance, his beard coincidentally was just slightly longer than permitted for merchants, and everyone knew that dwarves let their beards grow when outside of their kingdoms. "Aye, times are bad. I was just traveling on me road, trying to earn a living, and me guild sends me an elf of all things ta guard me goods and life. An elf!"

Isegrim forced a smile. "I see. Well then, I do not wish to impose any longer, be on your way so that you can swiftly be rid of your companion."

Hagwin sighed. "I'd like that, but me goats need rest. I was actually hoping ta let them graze here. They've been pulling the entire day with little pause, I don't want me goats ta collapse on me."

Isegrim frowned, but it was easy to see that the goats were indeed tired. Reluctantly he nodded. "Well then, I suppose you can be our guest for the night." From the murmuring, it was obvious the rest of the caravan didn't agree, but nobody spoke up, accepting Isegrim's decision.

Hagwin nodded and set up camp, a fair distance away from the caravan.

-0-

In the cart, Naruto was still unconscious, much to the worry of his friends. It had been almost a week, and there were no signs of improvement so far. The friends took care of him dutifully, but both began to fear for the one that had saved both of their lives.

Celia shook her head. "I need some fresh air." She told Hagwin, and left the carriage. Outside, she sighed deeply, and muttered to herself "Naruto, come back to us. Please."

Looking up, she noticed that her feet had carried her closer to the tents of the merchants. Still too far away for a human to hear anything, but elven ears were a lot sharper. Concentrating, she could make out two voices, Isegrim and another. The only problem was, their words were muffled through the tent and the distance, so she couldn't understand everything.

"...insane? They can't stay...too dangerous..." Came the strangers voice.

Isegrim's deep baritone rang out next. "...orry too much. ...have...more day...gone by then."

The other on wasn't convinced. "What if...aren't?...could doom us all...nd out."

Now Isegrim's voice was called. "If...then we...must be done. I don't...but...other choice."

Celia retreated. She hadn't really understood what it was about, but her gut told her it could be bad. Very bad.

-0-

Despite Celia's worries, the next morning arrived without anything unusual happening. She was actually beginning to hope that they could simply travel on and leave these strange people behind. Of course, things didn't work out that way.

"The goats!" Hagwin cursed. "Where are me goats?"

The pen Hagwin had built with long stakes and ropes was empty. There was no damage, indicating that the goats hadn't left by themselves, since that particular breed was strong as a mule and good on the most uneven of terrains, but they were miserable jumpers. Somebody had taken the animals.

Isegrim walked up to them, oblivious to the drama he had just entered. "Good morning." He greeted. "Will you stay for breakfast before you leave?"

Hagwin growled, tugging on the ends of his beard, and nodded towards the empty enclosure. "Somebody took me goats. We ain't going anywhere without them."

Isegrim paled noticeably. "Somebody... took your goats? Can we offer you a replacement, we should have a few horses to spare..."

Hagwin shook his head. "Nay. The cart is too heavy. Horses with enough strength ta pull it wouldn't fit into the harnesses. But me thanks for the offer."

Isegrim nodded, his eyes still wide. "No worries. How many goats are missing?"

Hagwin shrugged angrily. "All eight."

Isegrim took a deep breath, before forcing a smile. "I'll ask around. It's probably just a dumb joke from a few of the children, and we'll get them back soon."

Celia walked out of the treeline. "Bad news, I found a few tracks. At least two or three of the goats ran into the woods."

Isegrim paled even more. "I-I'll send out a few people immediately." With that, he rushed away.

Celia gave Hagwin a look. "Do you also get the feeling that he's desperately trying to get rid of us?"

"Aye." The dwarf answered grimly.

-0-

Meanwhile, Isegrim informed the others of what had happened. A few search-teams were quickly sent into the woods, while Isegrim personally lead a search through their camp. In three of the tents, he found goats, five altogether. The ones responsible, a quartet of youths, the oldest twelve, was dragged before him.

He looked at the ringleader. Calmly he asked "Where are the other three goats?"

The boy shrugged. "We let them run into the forest. You know, so that we could hunt something once the outsiders were gone."

Now Isegrim lost his forced calm. "What were you thinking?" He demanded. "Do you have any idea what you've done? You've risked everything we worked so hard for!"

The boy inched back. "But, it's just a few goats."

Isegrim's hand slipped. "YOU IDIOT! That is a dwarven carriage! They don't use horses! Those goats are what pulled them here, and what was supposed to pull them away from here! They could be well on their merry way if not for your stupidity!" He sighed, and his shoulders sagged. "It's noon. If they don't find the other three soon, we might be in real trouble. Dwarves are tough little bastards, and elves should never be underestimated."

The children exchanged glances. "We're sorry."

Isegrim looked like he wanted to shout some more, but forced himself to calm down. "It's too late to do anything now. Don't think that this won't have consequences, but for now, all we can do is pray that the goats will be found soon."

Alas, that was not to be.

-0-

The five goats were quickly handed over, and a sixth was delivered an hour later. Isegrim tried to convince Hagwin that he should leave with these, but like any true dwarf, the former knight refused vehemently, as that would slow them down immensely, as the animals would need more rest to cover less ground, not to mention the worth of the animals themselves. Begrudgingly, Isegrim retreated.

By the time the last two animals were finally returned, the sun had begun to set.

-0-

Isegrim walked to them. "Well, I must apologize for the inconvenience. But now you can continue your journey."

Hagwin nodded. "Aye, however the next resting-point is four hours travel from here, and travel at night is foolish. Ye easily get lost in these woods."

Isegrim managed to keep his smile. "I'm sure you will do fine, good Dorlin." Hagwin and Celia had given him fake names, as they didn't want to leave a trail as obvious as that.

Hagwin shook his head. "It's too dangerous." he stated, and it was the truth. Animal-paths and forgotten paths crisscrossed the entire forest, and if one wasn't careful they could easily get lost.

Isegrim growled. "I would prefer that you leave." He stated bluntly. "The camp is currently hectic enough as it is, strangers are the last thing we need right now."

Celia started to draw her blade. "Do not order us around, human."

Isegrim gave her a cold look. "I am merely giving the warning that staying here would have rather... unpleasant consequences, Elenor of the house of Westleaf."

Hagwin's eyes narrowed. "Is that a threat, Isegrim?"

The giant of a man looked down at the dwarf that didn't even reach his hip. "No, that's a fact."

Hagwin slammed his foot down. "We shall stay the night! Thanks ta your people, me goats are exhausted anyways, so we would not get far in any case."

Isegrim's face darkened. "Very well. Just remember that I warned you." With that, he turned away and left.

Hagwin and Celia exchanged glances. "Me gut tells me that we should prepare some additional weaponry." The dwarf stated.

Celia nodded, her long hair flowing in the breeze. "And sleep with one eye open."

"Aye."

-0-

Celia and Hagwin had retreated into their carriage, after the dwarf had jammed the carriages wheels and pulled the goats into a special tent-attachment of the wagon, made of the same linen that covered their wagon. It was special in the way that many steel-threads were woven into it, and while it would let an arrow pass, anything remotely larger would find it quite difficult to force its way into the carriage, as the cover was secured to the metal-wagon with steel-ropes, meaning that even a troll would have some trouble tearing it apart. In other words, there was only one easy way in, the back, making it a fairly good base. Hagwin's father had really given his son nothing but the best.

Both were awake, armed to the teeth, and waiting for an attack. But neither was prepared for what they would face this night.

-0-

An hour after sundown, horrible cries started to ring from the merchants' camp. Hagwin and Celia, worried for the travelers, peeked out of their carriage, and saw a boy stumble through the empty space between their carriage and the camp.

Both, trained by their orders to help those in need, immediately rushed out. Celia reached him first, catching the falling boy in her arms. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you oka...?" She broke off mid-sentence.

Hagwin arrived seconds later. "Oy, what's wrong with the lad?" He asked, his breath slightly strained.

Celia, who had placed the wriggling boy to the ground, seemed unable to talk, and simply pointed at the squirming boy.

The light of the full-moon illuminated the changes brilliantly. The boy's limbs were thinning, twisting while they elongated. Under the waxen skin the movement of the realigning bones was actually visible. His face bulged outward like it was made of soft clay and someone was pressing his fist in the back, the lips seemingly vanishing to reveal sharp teeth. His ears began wandering up his head as they grew into large triangles. His mouth opened, revealing an oddly flat tongue, and an inhuman wail escaped it, chilling the blood in Hagwin's and Celia's veins, especially when it was answered by what sounded like a hundred voices from the camp. The boy's eyes snapped open, now a bright green with slitted pupils, in pain as his spine elongated into a long boney tail. His nails had long since twisted into wicked claws, which were clawing up the ground. With a last shudder, fur began to grow, covering him in a rust-red coat, whiskers sprouting around the flattened nose.

The being, now looking like a humanoid cat, panted heavily, before realizing it was not alone. With a shrill hiss, it jumped back and ran into the camp.

Celia and Hagwin exchanged a shocked glance. The dwarf spoke first. "Skinwalker! The boy is a werecat."

Celia's long hair blew in a night-breeze as she nodded, her face ashen. "And from the cries from the camp, he's not the only one."

Hagwin groaned. "I heard that some skinwalkers were banding together, and pretend ta be simple travelers. It's just our luck that we had ta run into such a group."

"We have to get back to the wagon." Celia stated in a final tone. Out here they were sitting ducks. Hagwin nodded, and both spun on their heels and ran back to the wagon, Celia restraining herself to not leave Hagwin behind as an easy target.

"**AAARRROOOOOOOUUU!"**

Just as they were only feet away, a howl made both spin, weapons drawn. They nearly dropped them when they saw what was behind them.

-0-

Dozens of figures had gathered on the clearing. The werecats, the smallest of the three types with an average size of 165 centimeters, were mainly in the trees, though a few of the larger subspecies, like those resembling tigers or lions, had forsaken the trees to elegantly glide in between their larger fellow skinwalkers.

The werebears were easily seen, each between 2.5 and 3 meters in size. At least twenty had gathered here, lumbering giants of incredible strength, strong enough that some large examples had been reported to fight full-grown trolls to a draw.

Finally, the most numerous of them, the werewolves, were at the very front of the mob, growling and teeth bared. This type averaged at roughly 1.80 to 2 meters, the change rarely involving much growth.

However, all seemed to shrink between one figure, that stood at the very front. It was a werewolf, his fur black as the darkest night, and amber eyes glowing menacingly in the dark. His fangs were white as snow, and long as daggers. What truly drew attention to him was his size. The change from man to werewolf normally involved very little growth, at the wolf was sort of an in-between between the speed of the cat and the strength of the bear, however this one was larger than most werebears, at least 3 meters, if not taller. From the way it stood, it was clearly the leader of this mixed pack, even the bears seemingly cowering before it. Then it spoke.

"**I told you to leave, but you did not listen. Now we have no other choice. If we let you go, our entire existence is threatened. I truly regret this, but I'm afraid that the safety of my pack is more important than your lives."** It stated.

Hagwin's eyes widened. "Isegrim?"

The wolf nodded. **"At the very least, I will make this quick. You won't feel much."** With that, the black wolf leaped, apparently aiming to swiftly kill the merchant before entering a fight with the more dangerous elven battlemaiden.

However, Hagwin was a warrior, not a merchant. He immediately jumped back, and slammed his axe where the wolf had to land.

Despite his mass, the werewolf managed to twist enough to turn the killing-blow aimed at his head into a glancing blow that left a small cut on his chest just below the neck. And now Isegrim proved why he had become leader of the pack, as he immediately swatted Hagwin aside with great force, darted to the side to avoid Celia's blade, the elf having launched herself into the air to attack from such a blind-spot. Immediately, he snapped at her, his jaws making a noise like steel on steel when he missed, and seeing that failed, jumped right into her, ramming her with his head and knocking the wind out of her.

Altogether, the entire fight hadn't even lasted ten seconds, but both defenders were on the ground. Isegrim looked between them, then deciding to kill the quicker elf before she recovered, an lunged at her.

-0-

Celia had been taken by surprise by the unconventional assault, and was lucky that none of her ribs were broken. However, seeing those amber eyes focus on her with laser-like intensity made it quite clear that it wouldn't matter. The wolf had no intention of letting her live a single minute longer.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the the humanoid wolf lunged at her. The almost grotesquely muscled arms with surprisingly humanoid hands, adorned with small but razor-sharp claws, stretched out to pin her arms, the giant jaws opened slightly, aiming to tear out her throat with a single bite, Celia could see everything with unbelievable clarity. And even then, when death was preparing to take her into his cold embrace, she found that there was only one thought in her mind. 'Hagwin, you were a truly wonderful comrade. I'm sorry that my inability will now be your end too. Naruto... forgive me. It looks like I won't be able to welcome you back after all.' As the wolf sailed closer, there was only one thing Celia could use her last breath for. "Naruto..."

A rustle, and the black blur was intercepted by an equally large red one shooting out of the wagon like a cannonball and slamming into it with terrible force, the mix turning into a ball of movement, growls, and teeth.

The other skinwalkers, who had seemingly been content with watching their alpha fight so far, suddenly seemed tense, especially when the black blur was thrown twenty feet, slamming against a tree.

"_**Nobody lays hand on my comrades, cursed shifter, especially not a flea-ridden mutt like you."**_ An inhuman voice growled.

The lull in fighting allowed all to see just what had saved Celia's life. **"A werefox? I've never heard of such a being."** One of the gathered skinwalkers muttered.

And indeed, a crimson humanoid fox was currently crouching in front of the downed elf and dwarf, Nine long tails swishing threateningly, and a few drops of blood dripping from its fangs, proof of a wound the wolf now had on the left shoulder, though the only signs of a struggle on the fox's side was a bit of ruffled fur.

Celia felt tears of joy form in her eyes. "Naruto?" She asked hesitantly, as if afraid he would turn out to be a hallucination.

Hagwin looked surprised, but since he knew that the demon Naruto contained was a fox, and had heard the story from Celia, he simply assumed it was another trick the boy had kept up his sleeve for situations like these. "Good ta have ye back, lad."

The fox's head turned to them, showing a grin. _**"Celia, Hagwin, I'm back. Missed me?"**_

* * *

Chapter 9 is done. A cliffhanger, but many will probably be able to guess how this night ends.

Ironic, how it turns out that the crusade of the light races is a march into self-destruction. Though it explains why the dead rise. Await more details later.

To clarify a few things. Naruto can use both his original and Kyuubi's powers without drawback. He can, within certain perimeters, change his shape into Kyuubi's. However, with that transformation, the larger he gets, the more it drains him. Going full-size, and I mean original full-size and not the shrunken version, since here, Minato sealed the whole Kyuubi into Naruto, physically drained him to the point where he was comatose for a week, and that was for going XXL for less than five minutes. So no, changing into a giant fox and crushing all opposition is not a viable solution to every problem, it's a last resort. After all, while unconscious Naruto is a sitting duck.

Oh, and I called the shapeshifters skinwalkers because I didn't know what else to call them. Lycans would suggest that they were all canine, and simply weres sounded too dull and corny.

And a cookie to the one who knows where **Phantom Destruction** comes from.

The next point would be as to why the Nazgûl didn't show up when the skinwalkers attacked. The reason is simple. It gave its allegiance to Naruto, and only to Naruto. Had the skinwalkers tried to enter the wagon, it would have charged, but it at the present time doesn't care about Celia and Hagwin, as he doesn't know just how important those two are to his master.

On the topic of Nazgûl, that little tidbit seemed to cause the greatest amount of turmoil so far. Some found it awesome, others hated it. Let me give a more detailed reasoning for my decision to involve them. Yes, at first sight it looks like I'm simply copying them, but they've been altered to fit in my story. For one thing, they have more abilities than the LotR-Nazgûl do. Second, they have knowledge, and despite their long slumber, they also still have certain connections that will allow Naruto to get in contact with certain elements that will join him later on. Consider this, certain organizations have been forced into hiding for millenniums, so the chance that Naruto just stumbles over them is practically 0%, so I needed a bridge. The Nazgûl also have experience that will be useful later on, when it comes to organizing both the country and the army. To answer a different critic, I kept the number unchanged because nine happens to be a number I like. I kept the name because I really liked it, and just making up another would in fact make it an even cheaper knockoff, since people would criticize me to at least use the proper name if I am already copying them. And that Nazgûl means Ringwraith was something Tolkien came up with, because it fit into his story. However, in my story there is no unified dark language of Mordor, so I am free to give it a different meaning. I understand that some of you may find it cheap, but please trust me to not just make it a blind copy. And if it makes you feel better, the Nazgûl will not play a very large role in this fic. Also, if you already have problems with the Nazgûl, what are you going to do when the Balrog show up? That will be in the far future, but I am determined to use Balrog, again with a more detailed explanation for their existence, and how and why they exist. And before you flame, yes, I actually do have an idea what I'm doing, and no, I'm not just randomly tossing shit together to see what happens.

And some mentioned resentment from Celia and Hagwin towards Naruto for tearing them out of their comfortable life. Here I'd like to remind those that suggested it that they were in military orders, and still low-ranked newcomers. Those two are used to small hard beds, bedbugs, bad food, long periods without, and with just the ground to sleep on, so the wagon/carriage supplied by Hagwin's father is sheer luxury to them.

And a question that will invariably pop up later, the size of the continent and Naruto's later base. Mordor is slightly smaller than South-America, while the continent has about the size of Pangaea. There are no other landmasses beyond a few islands close by the aforementioned two locations.

And for the last time, Gaia is a world that I made up myself using different sources of inspiration, so you will not find a story playing in that world.

Next chapter will probably involve the skinwalkers, the Nazgûl, and perhaps Mordor.

Now, we've learned of two more beings, so it's only fair I give a more detailed explanation

**Encyclopedia of Gaian Species**

Psi  
The psi are special, in the form that they are not really a separate race, but have been declared so. Psi are born randomly, much like magic-users, though the parents being psi will increase the odds of giving birth to one. Psi can be born to humans and elves, no report of a psi from a different race exists. Psi do not have any kind of magical power, but instead are gifted with mental abilities ranging from mind-reading over telekinesis, pyrokinesis and similar abilities to clairvoyance, though some have a more unique ability, though it is impossible to predict the ability before it awakens. Only one in ten-million humans is a psi, while the rate with elves is at one in fifty-millions. As their abilities are unrelated to magic, and as such can ignore many magical barriers, psi have been feared as monsters and alienated. They have very little rights, and most psi hide their gift to avoid being killed by their own family or carted away into research-facilities of the local rulers. The only gift that does not automatically guarantee a life filled with pain is clairvoyance, as this particular ability is valued amongst the rulers, though the clairvoyants serving the rulers are essentially trapped in a golden cage, as they are still discriminated against and generally may only reside in specific areas, resulting in very little loyalty from those psi. This treatment has ensured that free psi, even if their powers are revealed without them being carted off, are disinclined to involve themselves in the affairs of non-psi. A well-known story is that a psi gifted with the ability to heal refused to aid a village that had made him an outcast when a terrible plague hit them, which led to the belief that every psi is at best selfish and cold-hearted, if not outright malevolent.

Skinwalker  
The origin of these beings is long lost in time, though according to legend they were once able to freely change form into their more beast-form, but if that is true, than the ability was lost ages ago. There are three types of skinwalker, namely the werecat, werebear, and werewolf, each with several subspecies. All skinwalkers are human, as the curse cannot be passed to non-human species. Infection is possible by either drinking the blood of a skinwalker, or have it mixed into the bloodstream. The only other way to be one is if one of the parents is a skinwalker, leading to the child becoming one of the same type as the parent. In the case of both parents being two different type of skinwalker, the child will usually be one of the two, though in very rare cases mutations have occurred that formed new subspecies, such as the wereliger and the werehyena, the exact workings of such mutations still unclear. Appearance-wise, all skinwalkers look human when not under the full-moon. However, on the nights of the full moon, their appearance changes greatly. All three gain a coat of fur, and head and legs formed like that of the animal they resemble. Their hands stay humanoid, though claws and fur does grow. In their beast-form, werecats are the only ones that, depending on what subspecies, may actually shrink, their average height being 165cm. They have retractable claws, an excellent sense of balance, and are the most agile. Werebears grow under the full moon, their size generally between 2.5 and three meters. Their claws are non-retractable and shorter than those of the werecat, and they lack their grace and swiftness, making up for it with raw strength and extreme durability, their resilience second only to trolls. The final type, the werewolf, is known best, as it is the most common amongst the three. They gain the finest sense of smell, being able to theoretically track with a trail five days old. Their claws are the smallest, which may be due to the fact that while both werecat and werebear fight mainly with their arms, werewolves prefer to use their strong jaws, the rare subspecies of werehyena especially, as their jaws are the strongest of all skinwalkers. Socially skinwalkers try to hide away from society, as they know that being found will mean their death. In recent times they band together to form large groups, and work as traveling merchants, using their cover to both earn money for a living and having an excuse for being far away from society when the full moon rises.

Surprisingly, I didn't find any questions that needed to be answered beyond what I did above, so the Q&A will be skipped this chapter.

Please Review


	10. Interesting Encounters

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

* * *

For a second, nobody could bring out a word as they stared at the being before them, a huge crimson fox with nine long tails swishing through the air. Then Celia broke into a smile. "Naruto, you're awake." She stated, before tiredly grinning "What took you so long?"

Hagwin smiled at his transformed friend, before adding his own playful scolding. "Ye took yer sweet time getting up lad, we nearly had all the fun without ye."

The fox's face split into a grin. _**"Sorry, I was a bit more tired than I thought. But now I'm here, that's all that counts."**_

Meanwhile, Isegrim fought himself to his feet, shaking his head to clear the last disorientation away. He painfully felt the bite on his shoulder, a fairly deep wound that refused to heal in seconds like normal injuries did on transformed Skinwalkers, and a number of bleeding scratches. Looking at this newest foe, he dropped to all fours. Weres could effortlessly walk on their hind-legs, but they were still fastest on all fours. In fact, a were on all fours was a sign of respect, it meant that the Skinwalker was taking his opponent seriously. And this fox was setting Isegrim's hairs up. He was dangerous, the inner animal warning of this nine-tailed monster before him. And Isegrim was inclined to agree to his instinct, as he had bitten down on his enemy's side, only to find that his teeth could not break the fox's skin. On the other hand, the appearance of the fox was the one puzzle-piece missing to complete the picture.

However, before Isegrim could do anything else, the pack attacked, seeing the fox as a threat to them. Werewolves rushed to the red fox, werebears stampeding a short distance behind them, while the werecats jumped through the trees to attack from above.

The fox's chest began to swell, before he released the gathered air in an ear-shattering _**"ROOOAAAAAAAR!"**_ that sent the wolves scattering like leaves in a stiff breeze, while the bears were pushed back. The werecats had avoided the roar and rained down on their enemy from above, only for the fox to reveal a weapon none of the Skinwalkers had ever considered; his nine long tails. Cutting through the air like whips, each struck with absolute precision, throwing all who came too close away and into the nearest tree, until all of the werecats had been scattered. A stunning display, as the tail for Skinwalkers was more for balance and communication, being generally too weak to deal real damage.

Despite the impressive display of power, some of the bears continued their charge, hoping to overpower the foe that had appeared out of nowhere. However, here the fox let them come, using his arms to repel their attacks. He shoved two away, sending them flying almost thirty feet, before grabbing two others who had tried to pincer him by the heads and slamming them together.

However, just as the dazed forces gathered themselves for another attack, Isegrim broke free of the trance that had overcome him at the display of power. **"Enough!"** he roared, and the pack froze. Isegrim stepped forward, a mix of worry, respect, and a slight hint of what almost seemed like amusement on his face. He looked at the odd trio before him, a dwarf, an elf, and a Skinwalker. **"I think I understand now. I found it odd that a mere merchant was so well armed, and that he knew how to fight as good as he did, even if it was a dwarf. But you're not a merchant Dorlin, and I doubt that's your true name. You are a warrior, most likely a Knight or a Paladin, as is 'Elenor'. You two were a team with that one, Naruto I believe you called him, who was ****probably the one that held your group together. He got himself infected, and the two of you kept it hidden as long as possible. However, eventually the information leaked, and the two of you aided your friend in his escape. Am I right?"**

Hagwin, Celia and Naruto exchanged glances, before Naruto nodded. _**"Not quite, but close. The details were different, and I am not a Skinwalker, but aside from that your story is almost correct, cursed shifter."**_

Isegrim's eyes narrowed. **"Not a Skinwalker? And why do you call us 'cursed shifters?'"**

The fox lowered his head, frowned, before his form seemed to blur. Within seconds, Naruto was back to his blond-haired self. "I call you cursed shifters because that is what you are. You are shifters, and you have been cursed."

Shocked silence filled the clearing as the Skinwalkers stared at the being that had just shifted into his human form while the moon was still high. **"Huh? Impossible! H-H-How?"** Isegrim stuttered, before catching himself. **"Either way, we have learned to live with what we are. We can even enjoy our transformation, it is not a curse."**

Naruto nodded. "I never claimed otherwise. You are shifters, descendents of ancient druids who had deepened their bond with nature beyond what mortals may consider wise. However, they angered a demon-lord, who cursed them. I am amazed that even after 10.000 years it has not been broken yet."

Isegrim stared at this revelation. Their transformations were natural, and even good? **"How are we cursed?"** he demanded.

Naruto shrugged. "You have been cursed with pain, so that the transformation is dragged out and causes agony. When that did not keep the druids from defying him, the demon-lord cursed them with one of their objects of worship. 'If they love nature so much', was the curse 'then I shall deepen that bond. In the night you pray to the moon, so the moon shall be your god! When the moon forms a full circle, then and only then shall you return to your beast-forms that you love so much. And under these spells you and yours shall be until I or one of my kind grants you their mercy.' Though even the one who cursed you expected the curse to be broken by now, I'm sorely disappointed."

Silence reigned after Naruto had spoken, as all tried to digest what they had just heard.

To Celia and Hagwin, this was shocking, yes, but it was merely one more of the many unexpected events that seemed to follow their friend and brother-in-arms.

To the Skinwalkers however, this was casting an entirely new light on their entire existence. The knowledge that the transformation could actually be painless, and that they were not bound to the moon above was something that they hadn't dared wish for even in their wildest dreams. It meant that they could be able to defend themselves against the lynch-mobs that inevitably rose whenever their cover was blown even at new-moon, or even during the day. It also meant that they would not have to risk revealing their true nature on every full-moon, a possibility that could grant them safety.

While the Skinwalkers huddled together to converse, Naruto looked into the darkness. "Nazgûl!" He called out, and the hooded figure appeared in seconds.

"_You called, master?"_ It asked, after kneeling before the blond.

Naruto's eyes were cold. "You saw everything that was happening, yet you made no move to intervene. Why?"

The Nazgûl lowered its head. _"I saw that you were in no immediate danger, and I was not informed of the worth these two had. Had there been a sign of one of the Skinwalkers intending to enter the carriage, I would have slain them."_

Naruto looked down at the ancient being kneeling before him. "I see. In the future, I expect you to give their health and safety the same care that you do mine. They are important comrades."

The Nazgûl's head lowered even further. _"As you command."_

Isegrim's voice pulled the attention back to the situation at hand. **"Since you seem to know so much, do you have the knowledge to break the curses on us?"**

Naruto smiled. "The question you truly want to ask is whether or not I can break the curses, is it not?" The black wolf-head went up and down with its owner's nod. Naruto's expression turned serious. "The answer is yes, I can. However," he interrupted the excited mutterings with a cold voice "you attacked two very important friends of mine, without provocation as far as I can tell. So why should I? What do you have to offer me in return for not only forgiving you for the attack, but also releasing you from curses that you have failed to dispel for a good 10.000 years?" There had been a time where Naruto would have lifted the curses without any hesitation, just to be helpful, but the last time he had done something for someone just to help, it had ended with him getting two holes into his chest before being thrown in a river and left to die. The lesson had been 'There's a fine line between being helpful and being a sucker, and suckers are everyone's doormat', and Naruto had learned it well. Help should be given within, within reason, and redemption was an option, but careful evaluation of a situation was better than rushing headfirst into an early grave.

The Skinwalkers looked at each other, unsure on what to do. On one hand, it seemed cruel to dangle such hope before them, only to pull it just out of their reach at the last moment. On the other hand they could understand where the blond boy was coming from. He was an alpha, that their instincts told them without a shadow of doubt, and they had attacked his pack. Even if he had repelled the attack almost effortlessly, they had still roughed up his pack-members, which was a strong insult to any alpha worth that title.

Surprisingly, it was the Nazgûl that spoke. _"Perhaps...their service?"_

Naruto looked at him. "While the idea has merit, and I would not be entirely avert to the idea of becoming a ruler, I do not have lands. What good would this pack do me, and I them, if I could not supply them?"

The Nazgûl tilted its head, apparently in thought. _"If land is what you need, I may know of some. Tell me, what has become of Mordor?"_

Naruto glanced at Celia and Hagwin for help, the word not ringing any bells. Hagwin shrugged helplessly. "Sorry Naruto, never heard of it in me life."

Celia tapped her chin in thought, before finally shaking her head as well. "Mordor, Mordor, Mordor... I'm sure I heard that word before, but for the life of me I can't say where."

Naruto shrugged. "No problem, not like I have more information." Kyuubi had never bothered to learn of something as trivial as countries, as those changed shape, size and even names too regularly for the immortal being to be worth the effort of keeping up. And who bothers with learning the name of every anthive they come across anyways? Not even the ants. Many citizens on Gaia were unable to even name their neighboring countries, especially in small villages.

"Enlighten us." Naruto ordered.

The Nazgûl nodded. _"Of course. Mordor is the name of Gaia's second continent. It is smaller than the Mainland, however it is still enormous in size. The straight of Verdonis would be the quickest way to reach it, the distance between Mordor and the Mainland is only a few miles at its narrowest. It's also the only easy access, seeing that like a giant arrowhead, the distance between the continent increases drastically from maybe five miles to over 600, and except for a few well-hidden beaches, the shore facing the mainland is composed of steep cliffs and jagged rocks. My last master had his base there, though I don't know how it looks now."_

Celia gasped. "The Unreached Lands! The giant island next to the continent that can't be reached due to heavy winds and giant whirlpools!"

Hagwin was equally baffled. "There were people there once? By me beard, that must have been ages ago. Nobody lives there!" He paused, absentmindedly playing with the end of his beard. "On the other hand, that could be a good thing. Aye, if the lands are as rich as the continent, me hands shake at how many treasures the mountains there might hold." In the end, he was a dwarf, and the interest in the treasures of the earth was almost a genetic trait of the entire species.

Naruto on the other hand saw potential. He didn't agree with the treatment of the so-called Dark Races, and thanks to the Nazgûl he knew of the dangers that the hunt for them was bringing to the world Naruto happened to be in, a situation he found altogether uncomfortable. If the island was truly that difficult to reach, and that vast, then as long as he found a way to safely reach it and ensure that others would safely reach it, he'd have a perfect retreat where the hunted races could rest, where they could gather their strength and perhaps restore the balance. A darker part of him, remnants of the Kyuubi's amusement in carnage and destruction, also considered the idea that an army could be built in the safety of the so-called Unreachable Lands, and that forming it would be rather easy considering the grudge the self-proclaimed Light Races must have amassed in their time in power. But before he could start planning that far, he needed to actually get to the land, and build.

The Skinwalkers meanwhile had finished a hushed conversation, and Isegrim stepped forward. "We have come to an agreement. If you truly can lift the curse from us, then we will aid you."

Naruto nodded. "We will have to see if Mordor is an option, and if so, we shall discuss further details. But now, gather before me and kneel. That is needed to break the curse."

The Skinwalkers quickly organized themselves in rows, almost like soldiers preparing for a parade, before they dropped to their knees as one.

Naruto took a few steps forward, before he stood directly before Isegrim, who made up the entire first row. Flaring his demonic energies, the nine phantasmal tails now clearly visible, Naruto raised his hands, his voice sounding like a mix between a lion's growling and a snake's hissing. "_Before me kneel those cursed for their defiance. Penitent they lower their head, and the mercy of a demon-lord they shall receive. Listen cursed ones, and rejoice! In the name of the abyss and my power as a lord amongst those who dwell in it, I hereby absolve you of your sins! You have learned your lesson, so let the curse of pain and the binding of the moon be_ _**BROKEN!**_"

There was a sound that sounded like a mix of breaking glass and shattering metal, before it was over. The Skinwalkers were still kneeling before Naruto in their beast-forms, looking confused, as if waiting for something.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I broke the curses, but if you want to see some changes, you have to will them to happen, you know."

There seemed to be a bit of embarrassment, before the Skinwalkers frowned, trying will themselves into their human-forms. It took a few minutes, as they had never initiated a transformation by themselves before, but after a few minutes some furs began to ripple, and seconds later those Skinwalkers turned human.

While the shapeshifters reveled in their new-found freedom, some of the younger ones even making a game of running, jumping and rolling while changing forms as quickly as they could, Naruto turned to his friends. "Celia, Hagwin, you alright?"

The unlikely duo had already fought themselves back to their feet, and nodded. "I'm fine lad. That Isegrim packs a punch, but me armor took the blow, and me father always said 'A good pounding only makes the mythril better'." Hagwin boasted.

Celia grinned. "So you're mythril now Hagwin? That's quite a boast." She rubbed her stomach. "I'll probably feel that till tomorrow, but I'll live." She turned to the Nazgûl. "You suggested Mordor, but how does one pass the winds and whirlpools? Is there a secret passage?"

The Nazgûl tilted its head in confusion. _"Winds? Whirlpools? There should be nothing extraordinary hindering the passage."_

Naruto frowned, the whole deal starting to sound suspicious. It was fairly safe to assume that the Nazgûl at this point would be completely honest, as the Witch-king was still sealed away and that little stunt with leaving Celia and Hagwin to die had cost him a few points in Naruto's book, so the only other explanation was that someone was trying very hard to keep people away. Still, it sounded like a better place than anywhere else, which made it worth checking out.

"Perhaps it's best we see for ourselves. If Mordor is suitable, then we'll set up camp there, with the Skinwalkers. If not, then we may have to leave them behind for the time-being. We can't afford too much attention on us right now, not when the world's attention is still on us."

Hagwin nodded. "Aye. I like the idea of more fighters, but I like me life more. Naruto, ye're right. It's worth a look before we send yer new friends away."

Isegrim, now in human-form, joined the small group, before bowing to Naruto. "Thank you. We may never be able to repay you for what you have done, but our loyalty to you is assured. I could not help but overhear parts of your conversation." He smiled in embarrassment. "A wolf's ears are very sharp. Either way, we will of course accompany you as long as you wish."

Naruto nodded gratefully. "I'm grateful. Though I think that this night you will all want to enjoy your new freedom, while my friends will want to rest. We shall start our journey tomorrow."

Isegrim nodded and returned to his pack to inform them of the plans. A few minutes later the entire pack was gone, playing in the woods with their newfound powers.

Celia yawned loudly. "After all that's happened today, I just want to go to bed. All in favor of calling it a night and catching some shuteye?"

"Aye." Hagwin agreed immediately, also looking tired.

Naruto on the other hand didn't feel tired at all. He had been resting for over a day, and the breaking of the curse had not been a real drain on him, if anything the small use of power had just energized him more, a feeling not unlike a sugar-rush. He smiled at the two people he cherished more than anyone else. "Then you two get some sleep. I'm wide awake, I'll keep watch tonight."

The two former knights visibly disliked dumping an entire night-watch on a friend, but both were just too tired to disagree, so with a few mumbled words of gratitude, they climbed into the dwarven wagon and went straight for their sleeping-bags.

Naruto on the other hand made himself comfortable on a tree above the wagon, staring at the sky and wondering about the future.

The Kyuubi had been a more solitary creature, but power and respect were two things it knew and appreciated, it even had a few followings that prayed to it as a god. And as a demon, Kyuubi had been a god of war, leading its followers into battle, and while it simply could have destroyed all opposition with raw power, as a kitsune Kyuubi had always preferred tricks, which had left Naruto with a great amount of knowledge on how to lead an army, and how to arrange and make use of advantageous situations. The only question was, did he want to?

He wanted to help, that much about him had not changed. He had seen a grave injustice, done to those who were hunted down like animals because they were labeled 'evil', or because they were looked at as mere beasts, essentially they were victims of genocide simply because they were different. Different like Naruto had been his entire life. Yes, Naruto wanted to help those labeled as the dark races, and Mordor sounded like what they needed most; a refuge. A safe haven for those mercilessly hunted, where they would be safe. However, Naruto knew it wouldn't be that easy, even if he found a way to claim Mordor as his. All those hunted would have to brought there without the hunters knowledge, and even when they were there, the self-proclaimed light races would not leave them alone. They would search for them, and eventually they would learn of Mordor's service as a home, and attack. What the dark races needed were multiple things, the perhaps most important one was a leader, who would unite them under his banner and organize them into an army that could defend itself from the attacks that were bound to happen eventually. For that however it was necessary to...

Naruto violently stopped that train of thought. He was already beginning to plan for an army while the most pressing questions were still unanswered. Could Mordor be reached? Was it suitable for the needs of all dark races? Would said races even come to Mordor, on nothing more than his word? Would they accept his leadership? And most important of all, did Naruto really want to lead them?

After a few minutes of deliberation, the night's silence broken only by the occasional howl, Naruto could at least answer that last question. Yes. If he was the most suited for the task, and with both the Kyuubi's knowledge and him being impartial to all races, belonging to none of them, he most likely was, then Naruto would be willing to lead them. It had always been Naruto's dream to be Hokage, and as he grew older it had changed from the naïve wish of simply being accepted as the leader to a more practical view, the knowledge that he'd be not only accepted, but that the fate of Konoha would rest in his hand. That responsibility, coupled with the less noble but equally motivating thought that he'd be able to rub it in the face of those that had doubted or disliked him, get justice against those that had wronged and hurt him, had kept Naruto going. He had wanted that responsibility, that power, he had wanted to prove that he was worthy of it. So if it would come to that point, then Naruto would pick up the mantle of leadership.

Naruto sighed deeply, pondering what the future would hold for him and his friends. As he waited for the sun to rise, he wondered what Mordor would look like.

-0-

The sea separating Mordor from the mainland was rough. Dark clouds hung over the sky, and whirlpools appeared and disappeared every few seconds. A strong wind was blowing, waves washing over the gray beach of the mainland, and smashing against jagged cliffs that made up Mordor's shore, fifteen stories of sharp rock making up Mordor's coast at its lowest point, the wall of stone going for as far as the eye could see. Strong winds were battering the entire shore, as if trying to blow everyone who even considered approaching back to the mainland. All in all, it didn't look like a nice place to be.

Celia looked around, and blankly spoke out what most were thinking. "Well I've seen more inviting places in my life."

They had been on the road for four days to reach this place, a forgotten shore in a godforsaken and uninhabited stretch of land. The Skinwalkers had been cheerful the entire way, still enjoying the freedom of their shape-shifting, and more than used to having to go through unfriendly terrain to avoid being spotted, but for Naruto's group, it had been a journey less for fun, and more to find a refuge, so the tension was high.

Hagwin frowned. "Naruto, I don't see how we could make it there in one piece."

Celia nodded. "No ship would make it through that sea, and the winds are too strong for a passage through the air. There's just no way."

Naruto glanced at the Nazgûl. "Your opinion?"

The hooded being shook its head. _"Even with how much time passed, there is no way that the currents could have shifted to form anything like this. This is not natural, somebody has changed it."_

Naruto nodded in agreement. He also found something fishy about this. He looked at his companions. "I'll go in for a closer look, I'll be back soon." Without waiting for a reply, he ran towards the shore.

Celia tried to grab him, but missed. "Naruto, don't be an idiot! You can't swim through that! NARUTO!"

As the blond boy reached the water, he couldn't help but think 'I'm going to get slapped for this, I just know it.' Still, he jumped over a wave, and started running.

Hagwin, who had been right behind Celia in her attempt of stopping what was equivalent to suicide, felt his jaw drop. "C-Celia." He asked, freely using her name by now. "Are me eyes playing tricks on me, or is Naruto running over water?"

Celia, equally baffled, blinked. "I see it too, but I don't believe it."

-0-

Naruto knew that for the distance, had the sea been calm, he would need maybe five minutes. However, seeing that the ocean was a giant washing-machine, he felt that ten minutes would be optimistic.

Water-walking was useful, however it had been designed for use on lakes, or rivers at best. On this sea the water constantly shifted, each step risking a twisted or broken ankle if the water shifted wrong, and balance was nearly impossible to maintain when the surface beneath your feet moved unpredictably. And every jump covered less distance than Naruto assumed, the winds increasing in strength the further he moved away from the mainland's shore.

However the whirlpools were the worst. Twisting the water beneath Naruto's feet, they had nearly pulled him off his feet four times already, and since they appeared with little warning, they were dangerous pitfalls that Naruto was not sure he would be able to get out of if he fell into one.

He had passed probably three quarters of his journey, and he noticed that now a lot more whirlpools were forming in front of him, when it happened. Suddenly a particularly large one formed only a few feet in front of him. It was too late for an evasive maneuver, so Naruto did the only thing he could, he leaped. He had aimed for thirty feet behind the whirlpool, but a combination of the hole widening further than expected and the by now hurricane-like winds blowing him back, he landed right at the edge, his arms grabbing onto the water while his feet dangled. Knowing he had only seconds, Naruto stemmed his feet against the whirling wall of water, the feeling not unlike that one gets when a carpet is swiftly pulled from beneath their feet, and pushed himself off.

With a small flip, he landed on calmer water and continued his run. However, both his jump and the unintentional flip had confirmed Naruto's suspicion about the whirlpools not being natural. Because deep down, at the very bottom of the whirlpool, almost hidden beneath a layer of water, Naruto had seen teeth.

-0-

Naruto had always been very good at multitasking, a skill necessary for many of his pranks, so while maintaining his run Naruto tried to access Kyuubi's knowledge. However, instead of simply trying to absorb the knowledge, a task which would have been fatal in Naruto's current circumstances, he instead tried to draw out specific knowledge, using the keywords 'whirlpool', 'teeth' and 'creature'.

Within seconds, Naruto had his answer. Charybdis. A type of creature living on the seabed that opened their jaws and sucked in enormous amounts of water, special tubes allowing them to filter and pump out the water it swallowed, and digesting anything that was pulled into the whirlpool. The creature was nearly invincible, it's entire body harder than steel, however it was stationary. The only problem was that charybdis' by itself reproduced very slowly, and over wide areas. A population like the one necessary to do this would never occur naturally, which left only one conclusion. There was a single species that was safe from the charybdis's jaws, that could cultivate them and even replant adults onto new ground; the scylla, a being that had the body of a human, only that instead of legs, the powerful tentacles of a octopus or squid grew from the hips. Scylla also were a part from a branch that had seemingly been forgotten by the current population of Gaia, the Tribes of the Deep, which consisted of countless sentient species, the only one Naruto had found any information on in the Order's archives were mermaids.

The question now was why the Tribes were involved in this. Most of their species could not cross onto land for extended periods of time, so why would they spend so much effort to protect it?

As Naruto pondered this question, he jumped and ran up the cliff. As he reached its peak, he paused, drinking in the scenery.

-0-

The cliff he stood on was, while large, actually not connected with Mordor's mainland. It was instead just a giant piece of rock in a rough T-shape, the longest part extending into a large gap in the cliffs, which led to a hidden bay with a flat shore and even some beach. The entrance to the bay was hidden from the mainland's view simply because the two shorter pieces of the stone-island Naruto was standing on were completely hiding the gap from view.

Further inland Naruto could see mountains and lush forests, but most of what he saw was meadows, green grass as far as the eye could see, with a river cutting it here and there. All in all, it looked like the perfect place to start a new life. If he found a way to get the others here.

Almost absentmindedly he drew his sword, and pointed right in-between the eyes of the reptilian humanoid, the blade's tip less than an inch away from the skull. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Tell your friends to come out this instant, and tell your cousins to land this moment, or I blast them out of the sky."

The reptilian sniffed, before he let out a series of what sounded like chirps, followed by deeper growls. "What you are?" The thing asked then, the human language a bit odd on its tongue, and clearly not used often.

Naruto looked him in the eyes, unminding that seven more of the humanoids climbed up the ledge together with three smaller ones, while four that looked smaller ones, only with large wings, dropped out of the sky. For a second Naruto paused, wondering how he could answer that without admitting that he wasn't entirely sure either, before finally shrugging. "I'm complicated." He calmly answered, before looking around. "I wish to speak with the leaders."

For what had tried to ambush Naruto were none other than the dragonkin, both warriors and kobolds. That particular species was thought to be extinct, having according to legend been created by the mighty dragons through unknown means, to serve as servants for more delicate tasks, and they had indeed always pledged allegiance to, and blindly obeyed dragons in every chronic that mentioned them.

Also, the winds that pummeled Naruto could in the intensity and length that Celia and Hagwin described, lasting days and even weeks, only have been made by a dragon aligned to the element of Wind, and probably more than one. Naruto knew that if he wanted to build a refuge on Mordor, then needlessly antagonizing the dragons that had obviously used it as a retreat from the hunters would be a stupid idea.

The Dragonkin huddled, breaking out in a feverish fit of hisses, growls and yips that signified their heated debate. Oddly enough, something resonated inside of Naruto, and he guessed that Kyuubi had at some point in its life learned the tongue of the dragons. Finally, one of them turned to Naruto. "You. Follow."

Naruto nodded, but when the closest dragonkin pulled out magic-draining bindings, one of Naruto's phantasmal tails lashed out and shattered them in its hands while a second one snaked around the reptile's neck and hoisted it into the air. "Let me make this clear dragonkin. I'll follow you, but I am not a prisoner. You did not capture me, I spared your lives as a sign of good will, so don't you dare try anything like that again. Now take me to the leaders." Then he dropped the frantically struggling dragonoid back to the ground.

The atmosphere tensed, but finally they nodded, surrounded him, and led him into a cave.

-0-

It had turned into an entire labyrinth that needed to be passed, and Naruto briefly wondered who had set this up, as it clearly connected to the mainland of Mordor, seeing that they had literally walked miles. Finally however the dark tunnels were lit up by torches.

Three figures were standing before him.

The first was a dragon in the way that most would picture them, with black scales, a long serpentine body, two folded wings, four legs with razor-sharp claws, and a head sporting massive jaws with jagged fangs that seemed able to tear anything apart. It's eyes glowed red, and occasionally one could see a glimpse of fire in its throat.

The second was also a dragon, though this one was clearly a lindwurm, having no wings and and only one pair of arms, the rest of the body, whose coloring was a mix between gray and various shades of blue that may serve to blend in while under water, stretching out like a giant snake. This one seemed to be a water-dweller, but it made him no less dangerous. Both dragons had heads the size of small two-storied buildings, and both seemed more than capable of crushing armies.

The final figure seemed insignificantly small compared to those two giants, like it would be completely overlooked, but in fact its presence set Naruto on edge the most. It was an elven woman, a light-elf, who stared at him with azure eyes that showed their immense age in the otherwise youthful face.

Also, Naruto felt that the cave he was in was charged to the brim with Nature Magic, a security-precaution that would smite Naruto like an insect if its master so desired. Seeing that Naruto didn't feel like dealing with a Damocles-sword hanging over his head while the negotiations went on, he decided to show off a bit, just to make it clear that he was an equal to those present.

What one must understand about Nature Magic and Demon Magic is that, on the higher levels of magecraft, they were mutually exclusive. Demon Magic was a magic not of this world, and while lesser demons could easily enact it elsewhere, the higher demonic magics twisted the concepts of nature in order to create the conditions to be used. High Demon Magic in essence temporary shattered the native Nature and replaced it with the demon-realms to allow the foreign magic to work. Nature Magic on the other hand was a resident magic that made use of the very nature to fuel and amplify their spells. That of course meant that in the result of the twisting of Demon Magic, Nature Magic could not be used. On the other hand, Nature Magic fueled the nature of their world, which made the altering of Nature more difficult if not outright impossible. In the fight between a demon and a user of Nature Magic of equal power, he who struck first won, as his magic made it impossible for the opponent to use his. Of course in the case of lesser beings using weaker magic that didn't twist the world, that rule was moot and the better one won.

However, if one of the opponents vastly outclassed the other, then that opponent was able to overcome his enemies magic, enacting his own while shattering all of the opposing magic. Naruto did just that. With a pulse of raw Demon Magic he shattered the Nature Magic surrounding him, one that Naruto estimated had the strength as wards of a strong six-tails, maybe even a weak seven-tails. For an instant the very world twisted, the elf staggering while the dragons twitched uncomfortably, before Naruto's magic, not being further supplied with fuel, burned itself out and the world returned to normal.

Naruto bowed politely. "Greetings. I apologize for any discomfort from my actions just now, but I felt it prudent to clarify right from the beginning that I come to this hopefully fruitful little debate as an equal, not a beggar. But past that, I thank you all for taking the time to hear me."

The winged dragon huffed, clouds of smoke coming out of his nostrils, before his jaws opened slightly. **"Why have you come here, halfbreed?"**

Naruto's brow twitched slightly, but he kept his calm. "I am no halfbreed, dragon. I was once a human, into whom a terrible demon was sealed. Not long ago I was ripped from my own world by a summoning and landed here, as what you see now. My parents were human, what I am even I do not know. My name however is Naruto."

The second dragon hissed. **"No matter. Why have you come?"**

A more dramatic being of Naruto's power would have now used its magic to conjure a throne into which he could gracefully lean into, but Naruto felt that he had provoked his opposites enough for now. "I assume that you are all aware of the state of the world, and of why it is happening."

Surprisingly it was the elf that answered. "Yes," she replied, her voice like a symphony "but it's surprising that you know. I gather that you're a stranger to our world, yet you know something that on the mainland has been forgotten, and the few that should know it deny. The world needs balance, light and dark. White and Black Magic are, relatively seen, the weakest, yet those that can use it, those who carry in them the darkness, a force that is despite its stigma not evil, are just as needed as those of the light. Our world needs the dark like it needs the night, the time of soothing and rest, without which Gaia would be a barren desert. Yet those fools disturb the balance, trying to drive the dark ones into extinction. Yet why do you ask?"

Naruto smiled humbly. "I have learned of this injustice, I have seen the hatred of those that call themselves the Light Races. I had found myself unwilling to let it continue, yet however powerful I am, I am merely one person. I am not deluded enough to think myself capable of ending millenniums of war and bloodshed by myself. I was in fact planning to scout out Mordor as a refuge for the hunted, and perhaps a base for building a resistance against those that disturb the balance. Right now a group of Skinwalkers, and a few comrades, are waiting on the shore of the mainland, and truth be told I had been hoping that they could find a new home here."

The three exchanged glances, and Naruto had the feeling that there was a lot more going on than he realized, from the occasional growl and shaking head he began to suspect that there was an entire telepathic conversation he wasn't privy to.

Finally, the elf sighed. "Normally we would kill you." She stated. Naruto raised a brow, his expression practically screaming 'you could try', but she continued. "However, there are certain circumstances that speak in your favor. First, you are planning on tackling a problem that we here are in no position to deal with. We will have further discussions on just what and how you plan on doing so, but we are not opposed to relocating the hunted here. However in return there is a problem that you can solve for us. Those that call themselves the Light Races have in recent times made more and more attempts to reach Mordor, the last refuge for many, and with your plans soon more. Many beings that are extinct on the mainland still live here, it is a preserve in some way."

Here the winged dragon interrupted. "**It is the last refuge of the dragons. Our race was once as numerous as the birds in the sky, our flocks darkening the sun when we migrated! Now, ****barely more than a hundred are left, and should those that have the nerve to call themselves the Light Races reach Mordor, then it's only a matter of time before the last of us will be slain and our eggs smashed. Right now Mordor is a low priority for the Ignorant, however they will keep on trying unless otherwise occupied, and once they learn of us here they will turn their full attention on this last refuge. What we ask in return for our permission to make these lands your home, and the home of those you bring, is that you keep it safe! Bringing the hunted here is not a bad plan, yet they will only attract more attention to Mordor. We feel that you are powerful, and we realize that killing you would be a task that would cost us our lives as well, yet we are not totally ignorant. You are part fox-demon, and that breed is known for its cunning. If you can bring the hunted to Mordor without the Ignorant noticing, and raise an army that can defend Mordor, then you will have our allegiance.**"

Naruto bowed deeply. "You honor me with your trust. I give you my word that I will do as promised. How soon I can act depends on what I find on Mordor, how quickly resources can be gathered, but I have made some plans for a distraction large enough to safely evacuate all hunted. It will need time, but I can give you a basic outline."

Naruto described his idea, and finally the lindwurm nodded. **"Very well. Return to your followers, I will inform the Tribes of the Deep to let you and yours pass unharmed."**

Naruto bowed again. "My deepest gratitude. We shall meet again soon, but now I should hurry before my comrades believe me dead."

With the discussion over, the winged dragon vanished into a tunnel and the lindwurm slid into what looked like a giant puddle, though it was likely connected to the ocean. The elf had vanished in the distraction that the two dragons had caused, so Naruto shrugged and let himself be led back outside.

Interestingly, there were no whirlpools on his run back.

-0-

Naruto hadn't even reached the beach proper when Celia and Hagwin rushed at him, former literally flinging herself onto him and pulling him in a hug.

"Thank heaven you're alright! We began to fear the worst! How was it?"

Naruto scratched his chin. "It was... interesting. I'll tell you about it while we prepare the boats. We have a new place to stay."

-0-

She collapsed into her chair with a tired sigh. The gears had truly begun to turn, as the dwarves and goblins would say, beginning with that pulse that had shook the earth, and now this new being, this... Naruto. She had to admit, she was impressed, something that didn't happen often. Despite having lived hundreds of millenniums, that boy had not only surprised her, but she felt something she had almost forgotten; hope. She actually had hope that with him, things might actually change for the better. She chuckled.

"My lady?" One of her comrades asked, his bronze skin identifying him as a fire-elf.

She kept chuckling. "Varondir, can you feel it? The times are changing. The balance of power has begun to shift, and I eagerly await to see what the future holds."

-0-

The preparations of the vessels had taken over three hours, which spoke volumes of how much work needed to be done, but finally the entire pack and most of their possessions had been stowed away on large rafts, which began paddling towards Mordor.

Suddenly Isegrim jumped up. "The whirlpools are starting again!"

For a second Naruto growled, suspecting that they had been betrayed, until he noticed something. His face split into a grin. "Clever. They're building us a road."

And indeed, the whirlpools were placed strategically and with ideal rotation that they actually created a current, like a road that pulled the rafts towards Mordor. A few particularly large whirlpools altered their course just enough that instead of hitting the cliffs, the rafts floated elegantly into the bay, to finally hit the soft, sandy shore.

A minor part of Naruto's mind considered that this would be a good place for a small harbor, and that the way of transport would be ideal for quickly bringing refugees in quickly. Shaking his head, he jumped onto the beach and turned to his captivated audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at our new home. I welcome you all, to Mordor."

* * *

Chapter 10 is finished. Wow, that really took a while. You know, for some reason this story is one of my favorite ones to write. Probably because I'm a fantasy-fan, and because I am practically building my own world here. It's fun. The only thing that pissed me off was that I had this story at the point where the dragonkin showed up, and then my laptop crashed on the ground and I had to wait WEEKS to finish this chapter. Very irritating.

Anyways, this chapter was almost a prelude, I might say. Naruto gained his first followers, made them helluva lot more terrifying and useful than they were before he appeared, and dealed with three beings old as time to get a foot on Mordor, and will get the allegiance of them and some more beings that fled the mainland for Mordor when the persecution started, though what runs around on Mordor is not even remotely human, with the exception of a very specific group of very special elves. Naruto will bring civilization to Mordor, or rather bring it back, as you wouldn't believe just how well magic can preserve strongholds, with all of their priceless content.

And Naruto can change his form whenever he likes, but the bigger the difference between his forms, in other words the larger he allows his fox-form to be become in comparison to his human-form, the more it drains him. Changes like he had when this chapter started are his minimum size, and don't cost him anything.

And I was asked if the Undead would attack Dark Races as well, since the Light Races are the reason they are forced to exist. Let me put it this way. If you tie a Light Creature and a Dark Creature to chairs, place them on opposite ends of the room, then put a natural Undead in the middle, it will always go after the light-creature. However they hate all life, so if the opportunity is present, they will attack a dark-creature as well. Though if a dark-creature escapes them, they quickly lose interest in it, while a light-creature would be pursued with the determination and persistence of a bloodhound, or a shark that smelled blood. So an Undead would kill dark-creatures as well, though given the choice they would go after light-creatures.

Well, I showed three new creatures, so here comes their description.

**Encyclopedia of Gaian Species**

Charybdis  
The charybdis is an unusual life-form. It is one of the few species that are neither animal nor plant, belonging to what has been described as mineral life-forms, its body by default harder than steel. As a result of their mineral-base the charybdis grows roots like a tree, and remains stationary its entire life. On its own it reproduces slowly, once every few decades letting a piece of it break off and be carried through the ocean by currents before the fragment takes root where it lands, though a particular member of the Tribes of the Deep, the scylla, has found a way to artificially plant charybdis, multiplying their population. The scylla are known amongst the Tribes as the only ones capable of handling these beasts, as they can even influence the beasts on when and how to use the natural ability that made it so feared. A charybdis can open its jaws and suck in tremendous amounts of water, which are filtered for nutrition and then released through tubes over their body. They can keep this suction up as long as they wish to, which allows them to form whirlpools to drag in meals that float. It has complete control over this ability to the point where the charybdis can if the whirlpool spin clockwise or counterclockwise. It should be noted that the charybdis is in no way dependent on this hunting-method, gaining all nutrition that it needs directly from the soil they dig into, but it certainly helps them. Charybdis that digest large amounts of metal grow even stronger and harder, which may be the reason they 'attack' ships. It possesses fine sensors, being able to detect things miles away, and a keen sense of smell that can not only distinguish living things, but also types of wood and even the difference between metals, however it is blind and deaf, not to mention that it possesses hardly more intelligence than a housefly.

Dragonkin  
The dragonkin are an odd race. They are humanoid, possessing a human's basic build with two arms, two legs, and a torso, standing straight. Their skin is made of scales, which, like their masters', the dragons, come in all colors and have resisted steel, and they all have a tail that reaches the ground. Aside from their service, what gave this species their name is the fact that their heads look identical to those of dragons, only on a smaller scale. Most have horn-spikes growing out the back of their heads, which together with the sharp claws on their hands and feet, and the fact that some also have spikes growing from the end of their tails, make them a terrifying enemy at close range. All dragonkin can breathe fire, the intensity of the flame an indicator of a dragonkin's strength, and health. Legends say that the dragons created these creatures in their image, using the design that they had seen to become more successful to have servants that were able to do tasks that the dragons themselves were too larger or strong to do, though there are debates whether the dragonkin were made from nothing like the gremlins, or merely transformed into their current form. The truth of their origin has been lost ages ago, hence why they aren't considered an artificial race like gremlins or homunculi. Aside from their basic look there are two types of dragonkin, so different that they had been long believed to be two different species.  
The first, the original holders of the title 'Dragonkin', now often simply called 'Warriors', or impolitely 'Drones', stand at the size of a human, some even larger, with an average height of 180cm. They possess great physical strength, but aside from that and their ability to climb almost as good as a gremlin, and of course their fiery breath, they are rather plain, having no other special abilities and a rather low intelligence for a sentient species.  
The second are known as the kobolds. Kobolds are less physically imposing, rarely growing larger than a halfling, their frame lean if not thin, lacking the muscles one can see bulging under a warrior's scales, but in return they have been given a much higher intelligence, and a priceless gift. They are capable of magic. While the Light Races labeled them as users of Black Magic, in truth they wield a brand of magic unique to them and their masters, Draconian Magic, a very powerful magic, and only one type whose existence has been denied by the Light Races in favor of generalization.  
Finally there is a subspecies of kobolds born with wings. This is not hereditary, as not even the kobolds know just what causes some of them to be born with the gift of flight, and these winged ones are seen as blessed, and a sign of good fortune amongst their own.

Dragon  
The dragon is one of the most famous, and infamous, creatures of all times. According to Gaian mythology, and it is true that even the oldest of elves, those that have lived since the dawn of their race, and the dwarves, who have kept records of their entire existence, admit that the dragons had been there long before the first humanoid set its foot on Gaian soil. Like elves, dragons have an infinite lifespan, and their enormous inner power, their Draconian Magic, has kept them from falling to illness, so there is much truth in the saying that a dragon will only die when it is killed, a task that grows exponentially harder with the dragon's age, as a dragon's growth in power never truly stops, though it slows down with time. Dragons come in different forms, though all share the diamond-hard scales, serpentine bodies, and the ability to produce mana instead of merely absorbing it, a trait that they share only with their servants, the dragonkin, and demons, though those produce demonic mana for their Demon Magic instead of the basic Neutral Magic that a dragon produces simply by breathing. Draconic Magic is more primal than its counterparts, having no incantations and instead using the pure will of its master to achieve the wished result, which also makes it an unpredictable magic as not even the dragon using it can be sure just how the magic will achieve a more complicated result. Most dragons have four legs, it being seen as the default-type of dragon. Dragons with no hind-legs are called lindwurms, as they were initially not recognized as dragons, and are mostly found as water-dragons, though some are aligned with earth and burrow through it instead. The other two types of dragons are distinguished only by the question whether or not they have wings, and there are no names to separate the two, as a winged dragon can come from wingless parents just like a wingless dragon can hatch out of a winged dragon's egg, and neither is seen as inferior. All winged dragons are capable of flight, though while most wingless ones remain on the ground their entire lives, there are those who have managed, likely as a result of their Draconian Magic, effortlessly fly through the air without wings, a feet that all dragons see as impressive. One thing that all dragons have in common regardless of appearance is their breath. While every fool can tell you that dragons can breathe fire hot enough to melt stone and steel, far fewer people know that while yes, every dragon including the water- and frost-dragons can breathe fire, all dragons have a secondary breath, which can go from a freezing blast of under -200°C or scalding hot steam of over 1000°C, corrosive mist and thunder over petrifying gases, poisons to more solid substances like acid or magma, and that is said to be only the tip of the iceberg. Some even claim that water-dragons actually have the ability to spit high-pressured streams of water, and that their steam-attack is actually the result of them mixing their two breaths, though there has so far been no conclusive evidence. While dragons had once been the rulers of Gaia, advancements in weaponry and magic have encouraged the younger species to hunt them, and while the odds of having a successful dragon-hunt and actually surviving it are less than 1%, the sheer mass of fools willing to try has driven this noble species to the brink of extinction.

Wow, I really had a lot to describe here, but I'm actually fairly happy with how everything turned out. The negotiations were a bit short, but I decided to just have them negotiate that Naruto can bring refugees to Mordor, and have them iron out the details for their allegiances later. Next chapter will be Mordor.

Well, that was it for now,

Please Review


	11. First Steps on a Very Long Road

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto, nor anything else I'm borrowing from other sources.

* * *

Getting to Mordor had been surprisingly easy, all things considered. After Naruto had managed to negotiate free passage. The first impression had been positive, after they had left the beach behind and actually entered the great plains, as Naruto spontaneously dubbed them, the Skinwalkers seemed awed at the idea of this much land to build a home on. However before the group really had much time to admire the scenery, there was a small twister, and three figures stood before them.

Naruto raised a brow. "Well that was a short goodbye."

And indeed, the central figure was the elven woman Naruto had met with the two dragons. To her left stood a male fire-elf, his expression hardened and body tensed, as if expecting an attack, while a female ice-elf, easily identifiable by her silvery skin and blueish hair, took the right side, equally stiff. The central figure in contrast seemed completely relaxed, and gave Naruto a small bow, much to the shock of her companions.

"My lady?!" "There is no need to lower your head to them, why-"

"Silence." The apparent leader commanded, and the other two immediately closed their mouths. "I am disappointed that you not even bothered to observe our new neighbors, as you failed to realize why we owe them respect."

The two elves frowned, closing their eyes, before stumbling back as if struck. "Impossible!" The ice-elf whispered "How can such a power exist in such a small container? Not even Lord Bahamut had this much power." She seemed honestly frightened.

Naruto, well-aware of what had shocked the two elves, rolled his eyes. "The story of my life is a long one, one that I have no interest in sharing. I assume you came for a reason?"

The leader smiled. "Indeed. I apologize for my companions, it has been a long time since we had contact with one from the outside. My name is Titania, I am the leader of the high-elves. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Celia, up to this point safely placed behind Naruto, gasped. "Titania? You cannot mean Lady Titania, the first elf ever to be formed by the gods?"

Titania smiled. "The same, though the title of first elf is not quite correct, I am one of the first two elves ever created, Mab and I were born in the same instant."

Celia gulped, before kneeling to the elven woman. "It is a great honor to meet you, my Lady. Yet, why do you claim a title carried by another? Lord Oberon is the king of the high-elves."

Titania seemed honestly surprised. "Oberon? Oberon is the king of the light-elves, he is not one of the high-elves."

While Celia seemed too confused to speak, Hagwin was notably less tongue-tied. "Wait, I thought that high-elves and light-elves were tha same thing."

The other two elves growled in anger, but Titania stopped them with a raised hand, a frown marring her face. "Noble dwarf, if I understand you correctly, then Oberon has claimed the title of high-elf for his race." She sighed. "That man always had delusions of grandeur, but to think that he would go so far to make himself seem more important." Her eyes met Celia's, and she smiled. "No child, light-elves can be high-elves, but it is not their title. I am a high-elf, and so are my two companions, who you can clearly see are not light-elves. You yourself may have the potential to join us one day child, but Oberon never even attempted it, seeing that he would have to lay down his crown to do so. A high-elf is an elf, no matter his species, we even have a dark elf amongst us, that is capable of wielding Nature Magic, though I believe you currently call it Ancient Magic, do you not?"

Celia's eyes were now the size of dinner-plates. "The high-elves are determined by magic? B-But why would Lord Oberon...?"

Titania smiled again. "Child, Oberon has always felt himself to be something better than others, as his kind was one of the first elven species, and he their king. The title of high-elf is one associated with much respect, but we always were a small group, and it has been a very, very long time since we retreated from the mainland. It would not at all surprise me at all if Oberon claimed our name to give his kind, and himself, a greater sway over the other elves." Her eyes turned to Naruto. "Yet I did not come here to delve into elven history. Lord Naruto, I came to you to speak to you about Mordor."

Naruto, who had watched the proceedings with a sense of detached curiosity, looked up. "I am listening."

Titania nodded. "For now, we realize that before anything can happen, you must have established a few bases, and gain an understanding of the land. For that, I have brought a map, and am willing to offer my aid. But before that, would you mind if I asked one thing? You referred to yourself as an amalgam, a human with a demon sealed inside him. You said you merged with the demon while being summoned to our world. I assume you gained its powers and knowledge?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "I haven't absorbed much of his memories yet, but yes, that is essentially true. What of it?"

Titania took a deep breath. "The demon that was sealed inside of you... was it the nine-tailed demon lord? The greatest of the foxes, known by the titles of the Beast of the End, the Crimson Calamity and the Ascended Demon-God?"

The words resonated in Naruto's head, and he held his head in pain as additional information was absorbed. Five seconds later, he looked up. "I know what you wish to know. Yes, the demon within me was the only one of its kind that could use Divine Magic, as a fox ascends to the level of the gods if he gains the ninth tail, which had been considered impossible before Kyuubi succeeded."

The Nazgûl laughed, the sound letting shudders run down most backs, with two notable exceptions.

Titania's face scrunched up in mild disgust. "I see your kind still exists. While I am personally not too fond of you, in these times it may be for the best that you are awake."

The Nazgûl bowed its head, its voice clearly transferring its amusement. _"From you, I humbly accept __those words as high praise. Indeed, Necro Magic and Nature Magic have never worked together that __well. From your question, I gather that you intend to give my new master my former lord's residence? I approve."_

Titania's eyes turned cold. "I did not ask for your approval, nor do I desire it, Lord of Necromancy. Yet it seems that we are in agreement that your former master's residence still holds valuable treasures that will hasten the progress." Seeing Naruto's curious expression, she gave him a tired smile. "Nature Magic is based on life, while Necro Magic is based on death. The Nazgûl are works, masterpieces even, of Necro Magic, and this particular one is the foremost expert on that style of magic, but because of the opposite alignments, Nature Mages and Necro Mages do not feel very comfortable around each other."

Naruto nodded. "I see. What is so interesting about the residence of the former master of the Nazgûl?"

The Nazgûl spoke. _"Our last master was cautious. He had a security-measure installed that activated with his death, and teleported all living things out of his bastion, then place it in a stasis-field that makes it impossible to enter. As such, both the tower and the surrounding city should be in good condition, and containing valuable tomes, artifacts and materials. The field is perfect, as the master was also a Divine Mage, and only another Divine Mage of equal or greater power can break the field. There has most likely not been another Divine Mage of his power before you, as his strength was unparalleled."_

Titania nodded, before snapping her fingers. The earth next to the group split open, spitting out a large serpentine golem with a flattened back holding what looked like seats in it. She smiled. "Normally it would take a month by carriage to reach your destination, with my golem it will only be a few hours. Please, follow me."

Hagwin narrowed his eyes. "Why are ye helping us this much? We haven't done much ta make ye grateful."

Celia seemed appalled at the distrust against the first of her kind. "Hagwin, be quiet! She has no need to trap us!" She hissed, elbowing him in the ribs.

Isegrim, who had been leading his pack, shook his head. "I must agree with the dwarf. This all seems a bit too good to be true. And while she and her entourage might be able to crush us all with nary a thought, the reaction of the other two makes it quite obvious that our Alpha can pose a real threat if the situation turns dire. This could be a ploy to lure him into a situation where they are at a larger advantage."

The fire-elf growled. "How dare you! Lady Titania would never-"

But Titania cut him off with a shake of her head. "Peace Varondir, their concern is a valid one. They are not trying to be insulting, merely cautious. If they are to accomplish what we hope them to, then such caution is necessary." She smiled disarmingly. "Very well, I will tell you my motive. The simple truth is that we are in need of Lord Naruto's power. The situation on the mainland turned grim unexpectedly quickly, and we can do nothing to help. We high-elves are few in number, the dragons even more so, and the few other sentient races are unsuited for different reasons. The only other intelligent on Mordor other than us and the dragons are the dragonkin, who are also few in number, the ents, who cannot cross the ocean and would be too vulnerable to fire even if they did, and the Tribes of the Deep, most of whom cannot leave the water for long, if at all. We have no way to intervene with the mainland, their armies are far too numerous, and the people have become too extremist to listen to us by now. If we tried to warn them, they would label us heretics against their 'holy' beliefs and overwhelm us with their numbers." Her shoulders sagged, and suddenly she looked incredibly tired. "You must understand, we have been distanced from the mainland for so long that they forgot our existence, and we are an incredibly long-lived race. I myself have lived for over ten million years. This genocide has started not even two-thousand years ago, and dragons have never been hunted in such an extent before that time either. For us, who have lived so incredibly long, that is a fairly short time. Even more, before the dragons sought refuge on Mordor, which began perhaps eight-hundred years ago, we were not aware of how bad things had gotten. We believed that it was merely another war, and that the losing side was throwing too many troops into battle. This has happened multiple times before, and once the war was over the balance quickly recovered when the losers repopulated. By the time most we learned of our folly, most races had lived in the belief that the extermination was just for multiple generations, and would no longer be willing to listen to a few unknown elves who told them that the actions that were just for over a thousand years could be anything but. We were too late to convince them, and too few to stop them."

Hagwin frowned, beginning to understand the despair of the high-elves. "So, ye could do nothing but watch as Gaia was dooming itself?"

Titania nodded wearily. "Indeed Sir dwarf. The worst part was not even the collapse of the dark, it was the uncertainty whether or not the race of the elves would be able to survive long enough to witness the end."

Celia gulped at the ominous words. "What do you mean, Lady Titania?"

Titania locked eyes with Celia, her expression grave. "Child, most believe that we elves are a timeless race, however the truth is that we are only ageless as long as we can absorb mana from our surroundings. Without mana in the air, we elves wither like a plant without water, we would age rapidly, and most of us would not reach the age of thirty years."

"But mana is produced by Gaia itself, it can't run out." Celia argued.

Varondir shook his head. "It's true that Gaia produces mana, however the truth is that it doesn't produce much. Mana was never meant to be an abundant resource like it is now. Gaia produces exactly the amount of mana that's needed for the elves to maintain their timeless existence; no more and no less."

"Most of the mana on Gaia" the ice-elf continued "is not from the planet, but from another source. There is a single race on Gaia that continuously produces mana, and expels most of it into the air. That race is the dragons, and their creation, the dragonkin. Because the dragons as the oldest sentient race were so numerous, there was always a gigantic surplus of mana that we elves did not need to survive. As a result, elves, humans, even the dwarves, almost all races developed methods to use the mana. This we call magic, and as long as the dragons were numerous, there was no problem. However the race of the dragons has been driven to extinction. If the rulers of the mainlands found out that the dragons fled to Mordor, and eventually they will find out, they would send their troops to kill the last dragons, believing them to be a threat."

"Once that happens," Titania calmly explained. "it's all over. Without the dragons, the only source of mana will be Gaia itself. And because magic has spread so far, and is permanently used for even the most mundane things, it will not take more than a century before the existing mana will be entirely used up. The elves will die by the millions, and all races will be fighting over the few spots from which the mana enters the atmosphere. The elves will fight for their very existence, while the other species will resent the elves for hording the mana their mages need to maintain their standard of existence. No matter which scenario happens, Gaia is doomed, and we do not have the ability to stop it."

Naruto closed his eyes. "You don't have the means to fight back. You do not even have the means to defend Mordor once the invaders arrive, even if by some miracle you managed to convince the dark races to come to Mordor. That's why you need me."

"Yes." Titania's answer was blunt and honest. "You have power greater than any other being on Gaia, and you have the knowledge of a demon-lord infamous for not merely its strength, but its cunning. When we first met, you described us a plan that would give you time to gather the hunted races, and give them and the dragons time to raise their numbers. We do not doubt that with time and resources you will gain, your schemes will grow even more advanced. We are placing our hopes on you, Naruto Uzumaki, because there is nobody else that can take this role."

Naruto closed his eyes for a minute, deep in thought. Then, with a single leap, he was standing on the golem. "Let us leave, we are wasting time."

-0-

The journey had been an uneventful one, mainly due to the fact that the golem had encapsulated its passengers and journeyed through the ground, and Naruto had used the time to meditate and gain as much knowledge on Divine Magic as he could.

Kyuubi had indeed been the only demon capable of using it, however even for the demon-lord it had not been easy. Demons by nature produce Demon Magic instead of Neutral Magic, or as it was described in Naruto's world, they had youki rather than chakra, and the transfer from Demon Magic to Divine Magic was a draining and costly exercise, so much as a thousand units of Demon Magic needed to create a single unit of Divine Magic. For that reason, the fox had practically never made use of its unique gift, as it was simply too costly. But it knew what to do, and the process could easily be adapted to use Naruto's chakra instead of youki.

A small experiment revealed that the merge had actually made things much easier for Naruto, as, while he had gained the even more massive reserves of the fox in addition to his own, he was not a demon, and the fact that he had chakra, aka Neutral Magic as a base instead of Demon Magic meant that Naruto only needed fifty units of chakra to create one unit of Divine Magic. Any other mage would have explained in great detail that this was still an unreasonably high cost, but it was little different from Naruto's own world, where any shinobi could explain in great detail how using the mass-version of the _Kage Bunshin_ was fatal because the costs became too high. If there was one thing Naruto had in abundance, it was energy to spare.

Finally the golem had surfaced on a hill, and Naruto's group got a first look at what was supposed to be their new home.

It was gigantic.

Fanned out before them was a city, guarded by thick walls, though many of the houses showed signs of heavy damage, probably from the war that had killed its lord. Where the joint would be in a handheld fan there stood a castle, rising into the heavens for at least half a mile, ending in a top that made the entire structure seem like a giant tower. Behind that were mountains, that the castle had clearly been built into. Surrounding everything was a translucent field of silver energy, the stasis-field Naruto guessed. Say what you want, but the master of the Nazgûl had known how to impress.

Titania smiled apologetically. "Stasis-fields disturb the surrounding mana, so the golem cannot bring us closer without risking deformation, which could be fatal to passengers."

Naruto shrugged. "Not a problem, we're close enough." He muttered, before passing the distance of over three-hundred feet with three quick leaps.

Up close the field was even more impressive, a seemingly delicate net that in reality formed nearly impenetrable barrier that was almost impossible to break. Almost. Looking at it, Naruto could find three ways to cancel the field.  
The first, likely the only intended one, was to form specific patterns on the surface of the field, like a combination for a safe, and release the field. The problem here was that Naruto had no idea what those patterns were, and that failed attempts would result in backlashes of increasing severity, something that Naruto was not too keen on experiencing.  
The second method, likely the one others tried and failed at, was to use brute force to either break through the barrier or tear it apart. Thanks to the merge, Naruto would have more than enough power to do so, but it was a very draining idea. The magic was woven in a way that by itself, the net was quite loose, however if force was applied to it, no matter if it were to be compressed or expanded, the threads would either harden or tense, making it more and more difficult to break the field, as it grew stronger the harder you tried. Not only that, but because of this, the moment you succeeded that energy would be released outward, so unless you broke it in a single instant, you risked being killed by the breaking field.  
The final method was one that mere mortals, even elves, would not be able to do, as their minds were unable to truly grasp the intricacy of the web, and the fine details that made it so strong. However Naruto was not simply human, he was also fox-demon, which were one of, if not _the_, most intelligent and cunning races there were, as such his mind was able to analyze it, and target and carefully shift individual threads.

Naruto did just that. His consciousness spread over the field, and he began to shift the threads, slowly weaving the already complex web into one infinitely more so.

-0-

Carefully shifting the last thread into place, Naruto stepped back to admire his work. "Well, that was fun."

"Fun?" Celia asked. It appeared that the others had used the time he had spent on the field to shorten the distance between them to a few feet. "I don't see any progress."

Hagwin nodded. "Not ta hurt yer feelings laddie, but ye've been at it for two hours, and nothing happened ta tha field."

Naruto grinned. "Patience my friends, I wasn't trying to break the field, I was merely making preparations."

Varondir, who had been awed by the fact that Divine Magic was worked before his eyes, as he himself had never seen it before, found his voice next. "What precisely have you done?"

Naruto raised a finger, just like Iruka used to, and began his lecture. "This field is in fact not so much a field as a barrier. Inside is an energy that maintains the stasis, however it can only work in an enclosed system, as it would otherwise dissipate. The barrier is woven from threads of Divine Magic, the pattern so complex that any energy is distributed very efficiently. The maker of this barrier was not only strong, he was also incredibly skilled, as the weave ensures that the construct is much more stable, and not even the maker would be powerful enough to break it by force. He made the threads loose, as that way they can absorb energy used in the attempts to break through and direct it back as resistance."

Titania's eyes widened. "I see. The threads don't interact with magic other than Divine Magic, whose users have always been rare, and even if one powerful enough to break the barrier appears, doing so will cause the entire gathered energy to be released towards the ones who managed to break it, likely killing them."

Naruto nodded, feeling somewhat awkward being the one holding the lecture rather than the one being lectured. "Correct. Instead of doing that, I directly manipulated the threads themselves. It may look the same, but the weave is very different right now. Allow me to demonstrate." He turned back to the field, and charged the last digit of his middle-finger with Divine Magic. Instead of enacting a spell however, he merely flicked at the barrier, before smiling. "We should probably take a few steps back, just to be safe."

The others gave him curious glances, but obeyed. They had not yet made ten steps when the entire field began to distort, while giving off a strained hum. Bulges and dents were forming and disappearing, seemingly at random, and the entire shape of the field became undefinable.

Naruto nodded to himself. "Because the weave was loose, which grants stability, I was able to shift the threads into a new weave. This one however was designed entirely on tension, each thread compressed or stretched to its limit. That way, I only had to add a minimal amount of force, and when the weave tries to relieve the pressure in one spot, it's in turn increasing it in three others. That way the barrier is actually creating more and more energy, and because there is no external force the pressure can go neither inward nor outward, but only turn upon the barrier itself. This will continue until..."

The humming had by now turned into a crescendo of painfully shrill shrieks and low, agonized groans. Spiderwebs of cracks spread in some areas, while others were stretched until large tears appeared, before being slammed shut by the motions of the twisting barrier. Finally, the entire thing collapsed with a sigh, the energy released barely enough to ruffle the bystanders, who had stopped a hundred feet away.

"...it tears itself apart." Naruto finished smugly. "Well then, lets have a look, shall we?"

-0-

The city itself had been scouted out fairly quickly. Most of the buildings were stable, and the skinwalkers had already begun with basic repairs to a section they intended to claim for themselves, said section being on the outskirts, even having a few old fields that could be used to grow food, which was already being prepared, the strength of the werebears making oxen or horses unnecessary to plough the ground.

Curiously enough, Naruto was able to tell the exact location of everyone who had been there when the castle's first owner, who Naruto realized must have had a great sense of humor, perished. The reason for this was simple. The field had teleported every living thing away before the stasis began. Armor, personal belongings and clothes were not alive. Naruto cackled at the thought of the invading army, already able to taste their inevitable triumph, suddenly finding themselves kicked out butt-naked, a few of them probably able to see their clothing, but not reach it. Though Naruto was more than capable of seeing the practical use in this. The clothing, once washed, might be reusable, and even if not, there were a lot of materials, not limited to weapons and armors, lying around that would be useful, as raw metal if nothing else. A few arcane materials here and there, such as a staff or tome, were also welcome.

The castle on the other hand had had so much more to offer. While much of what the group found had been improved in the time passed, much of the things being worthless, there were a few gems that more than made up for them. The library alone was a treasure of unimaginable worth, seeing that not only were there a number of tomes about Divine Magic, but also old and forgotten knowledge of other fields could be found, everything in perfect condition, as the invaders had apparently been thrown out before they could actually do anything in the hall of knowledge.

Just as important as the tomes, if not more so, were two other things the group found in the tower, things that would become some of Naruto's most important assets. So old that only Titania recognized their significance at first.

-0-

Titania's eyes widened as they entered the newest chamber. It was a large, rectangular room, the distance between the walls being 40 meters for the shorter side, and 60 meters for the longer one. While there was a throne on the far side, most of the room was empty, a perfect square with a length of 35 meters being indented, the square's floor looking as if made of crystal. The only other thing was an odd elongated cone-like spire, 180cm high, and, while essentially round, filled with circular indentions, though a second look showed that broken crystal was scattered around it, and here and there there was a cracked crystal-orb still in its socket.

Titania's eyes widened. "This is..."

Naruto glanced at her. "You know what this is?" He asked.

"You don't?" She asked back, surprised. "I would have thought that a being as intelligent and knowledgeable as the nine-tailed fox would know it."

Naruto shrugged. "Possibly. I haven't found the time to fully absorb his knowledge yet. In fact, I was planning on doing this once we established a secure base, so I guess I'll do it once we're finished here. So, what is it?"

To the surprise of the group, it was Hagwin that spoke first. "Palantirs. Ye see tha crystals in that thing, those are palantirs, Mountain Eyes. Or were palantirs, now they're smashed crystal. Palantir-crystals grow deep down, and only under very special mountains. Tha veins have all dried up long ago, and they're practically impossible ta find, but I heard that back when there was still loads of them, it was common ta smash yer enemy's palantirs. When the mines ran out, nobody changed tha practice till they were all gone."

Titania meanwhile had taken a closer look at the spire. "Yes, this device is attached to the lowered floor. It uses the palantirs in order to project a three-dimensional map that can be manipulated. It's not really designed to observe individuals like a regular palantir can, but this way the ruler can check on many things quickly, like how farming and mining is going, where natural disasters are occurring and what damage they caused... and of course the deployment of troops, both his own and the enemy's." As the others pondered the immense value of such a device, Titania leaned forward to analyze the palantirs. "They're all damaged, but some might still be usable."

And indeed, with a low humming the spire vibrated, causing a few crystal-shards to fall, and an image flickered to life on the floor. The outer edges were blue, obviously showing water, while most of the floor was occupied by a large landmass. Mountains, rivers, forests, grasslands, even desert and tundra could be seen, together with a very small number of cities, one of them highlighted.

Titania frowned. "This is Mordor, but yet it's not. The shoreline matches, yet the lands look completely different. There are no other cities or villages besides this one, there is forest where plains should be, plains where... I see. The palantirs are too damaged to function as they were intended, so they instead show the last image they held. This is Mordor as it was, 200.000 years ago." Then she smiled. "Fortunately I brought Merai for just this reason."

The ice-elf, who had so far been perfectly content with being in the background, stepped forward. "Though it may be late, I offer you my greeting. I am Merai, the... you could call it geography-expert of the high-elves. I do not exaggerate when I say that there are few who know the lay of Mordor's lands like I do. Originally I believed we'd be working with maps, so this is an unexpected stroke of fortune." She turned to the spire. "Give me an hour, and I should be able to alter the image to show Mordor as it is now."

Titania nodded. "Please do so. However, don't get carried away Merai, the dragons won't be happy if you accidentally add their roosts to the map. As much as we need lord Naruto, blind trust is foolish at this point."

Merai actually blushed, making it clear she hadn't thought of that yet, and that high-elves were notably less stuck-up than their light-cousins. "Of course, my lady."

Naruto nodded in respect, before turning. "My gratitude. Now, I wonder what else this tower holds for us."

While Merai focused on the spire, the others went deeper into the tower, prepared to unveil even more of its secrets.

-0-

Their next find was visibly not as impressing as the last, but even grander. It was a storage-hall, and in it were dozens of odd devices, over thirty copies of the same machine, a skeletal frame with what almost resembled a spinning top in the center. There were a few other things, but most looked like they were spare-parts or additions for the first machine.

Naruto felt a tingle in his head, this thing Kyuubi seemed familiar with. Following the mental nudge, Naruto's eyes widened.

Isegrim seemed less impressed. "What are those things?"

Naruto chuckled. "Distilleries Isegrim. Those things are distilleries." A moment later, he had to turn away to suppress his laughter.

Hagwin frowned. "I know me way around distilleries, and those don't look like any distillery I've seen."

Titania nodded, her voice lowered in awe. "I don't doubt it, young dwarf, for those don't distill alcohol. These are mana-distilleries, they produce a highly concentrated mana in liquid form. They were all supposed to have been destroyed long before the rise of this lord, how...?"

The Nazgûl let loose its rattling laugh. _"My former master was an elf, are you truly surprised that he lived and gathered resources before he started his campaign?"_

Sensing an impending argument, Celia quickly spoke up. "But why were these machines destroyed? They do not sound dangerous."

"There were many reasons." Varondir quickly replied, equally eager to avoid a confrontation. "For one thing, they were used as torture-instruments, as they will drain mana from what they're connected to as long as they are activated, even if they kill the user. They were also used to dissolve protective enchantments on treasures by draining all mana from it, which led to a series of thefts. The most important reason however, was that these machines disturbed the natural order of things."

"Order?" Isegrim asked.

It was Titania that answered, her eyes closed as painful memories rose up in her. "Magic is a rare gift, and there are only few that can use it. However, with liquid mana even those who were unable to use magic gained that ability, by simply using magical arrays, for example as tattoos, and pour liquid magic on it. The problem however was that while the machine can be fueled with just the ambient mana, all it produces that way is Neutral Magic, highly concentrated yes, but completely useless for those arrays. So they began to kidnap those that could naturally use magic naturally, attached them to the machines, and used them as filters to transform the useless Neutral Magic into useable magics. The lucky prisoners died in their first drain, the less fortunate ones were drained again and again until they finally perished. The result was a war, between natural and artificial mages, latter supported by others who wanted to become ones. It was one of the most brutal wars in the history of Gaia, and a time where light and dark fought shoulder to shoulder in order to save themselves. Four high-elves were taken back then, three of which died."

Varondir spat on the ground. "Merai was fortunate. Her captor had a conscience, and only joined the group in hopes of saving as many as she could. She let the machines drain ambient mana, then gave that to her prisoners. With that, more mana could be milked from them before it began to hurt, at which point she immediately shut the machine off. She also sent information that would be vital for the rescue of prisoners. After the war, the woman committed suicide."

Naruto nodded, more to himself. "It is a device that has great potential for misuse, that is true. However, in the right hands it could also be a great asset. We are not in a position where we can afford not to take golden opportunities when they arise. I have a feeling these will become quite useful one day."

Neither high-elf looked truly happy, but neither refuted the statement either, realizing the truth in it.

-0-

Finally they reached the very tip of the tower, looking over the lands. The top of the tower was surprisingly simply an even platform with a complex array embedded in the floor. There were no rails to keep one from falling, but a number of additional extensions shooting into the heavens like giant daggers.

Even Titania seemed confused at the array. "A Summoning Circle? But I've never seen one like that, what kind of demon could it be for?"

Naruto shook his head, Kyuubi's surprisingly extensive knowledge on this topic flowing into his mind. "It is a circle to summon a familiar, but not a demon. Look around, the location is completely unsuited for summoning demons. In summonings, there is a lot of symbology. The number of demon-types that could be summoned in such a location can be counted on one hand. The circle is placed closer to the heavens, in this open platform wind is the dominant element, with secondary elements of water if it rains, and light. For most demon-summonings it's best to go further from heaven by digging into the ground, the circle should never be exposed to the sun, flames being the only light. Distance from heaven, and elements of darkness, earth and fire are what should be used for most demon-summonings, they allow you the broadest spectrum. Whatever this circle was designed for, it was not demons."

Looking over the lands once more, he turned to his comrades. "First, I would like to thank you, Lady Titania, Sir Varondir, for your assistance. Please also give my gratitude to Lady Merai when you rejoin. I believe this is a suitable base, and we will start our operations as soon as we have finished preparing it for use."

Titania nodded, they had passed many places that would need repairwork. "Of course. May we return once the preparations are complete?"

Naruto smiled. "Of course. I have no qualm with the high-elves, as such they are always welcome in my halls." He turned to Isegrim. "Isegrim, be honest. How long do you think you will need for the repairwork?"

The skinwalker scratched his chin. "Difficult to say, it depends on what we can find, and how much is still useable. At least three weeks, a month if things go bad."

Naruto nodded to himself. "A month... Yes, good. Please get to work as soon as possible. Hagwin, would you mind going down to the forges? We didn't have that much time to inspect them, please have a look at the condition they're in, what can and can't be done with them, and how to get them running and improve them. There's no need to hurry, we lack the necessary manpower anyways, I just want to know where we stand."

The dwarf nodded. "No problem laddie, I'll see what miracles dwarven knowledge and workmanship can produce."

Naruto smiled at his friend, before turning to his other friend. "Celia, would you mind having a look at the library for me? Try to find information that will help us in our quest to restore the balance and save the hunted."

Celia straightened. "Of course Naruto. But, if you don't mind, what will you do?"

In response, Naruto fell into a meditating position. "Something I didn't find the time to do before. I'll absorb the rest of Kyuubi's knowledge. It'll probably take me around a month as well, so the amount of repairwork is actually quite convenient for me."

The others shared glances, but all understood that the knowledge a demon of Kyuubi's age had gathered would be priceless in their future endeavors, so they nodded and turned to leave.

All but the Nazgûl, who felt his master's gaze on it. Naruto's order was short and precise. "While I absorb the memories, none but Celia and Hagwin are permitted on this floor. And if you have knowledge that could help, I expect to be informed once I awaken."

The Nazgûl bowed its head. _"As you command."_

Taking a deep breath, Naruto closed his eyes.

-0-

He was back in his mindscape, staring at the large ball of swirling mist. "Well, here goes something." Naruto muttered to himself, before plunging into the mist of millenniums of memory.

-0-

Thirty-seven days later, a pair of amethyst eyes opened. Stretching his sore body as he gazed over the lands that would be the refuge of many, and his kingdom, there was only one thing the now complete amalgam could say. "It is time to begin."

* * *

Chapter 11 complete. I guess I owe my readers an explanation. First thing first, I am, obviously, not dead. In fact, I have served my time and have been out of the military for a while now. However, directly after being released from service I entered university, and since then I had very, very little free time. In addition, I had an odd mix between writer's block and overflowing inspiration. To the confused, this means writer's block for my published works, but overflowing with ideas for new ones. Right now, adding my already published works, I have chapters for twenty to thirty stories flying around on my computer, and that number will probably only increase as time goes on.

To those wondering about my other stories, chapters for them are in various stages of completion. Furthest along is probably GoI,HotDA,the chapter being roughly 60% done.

This chapter itself was one where not that much happened, but I feel it necessary. Next chapter however, Operation Refuge will finally commence. I haven't completely decided who should be the first escapee yet, so if there is a race you would like to see, tell me and I'll take it into consideration. I tried to add at least a few images of what Naruto experienced with Kyuubi's memories, but no matter how hard I tried, it still ended up sounding like a bad drug-trip so I decided to just do away with it.

I chose the names Titania and Mab because I feel they are good in their contrast. I'm aware that they are technically fairies in Shakespeare's work, but I call on artistic freedom for that. The fairies in my story, after all, will be in the classic image of tiny people with insect-wings, and they won't be monarchical.

As for the tower, I picture it as a mixture between Sauron's and Saruman's towers from the LotR-movies. The top is obviously Saruman's, but the basic look and height are closer to Sauron's.

And yes, Naruto can use Divine Magic, because Kyuubi could use it. It is said that nine-tailed foxes can have the power of gods, and as such I reason it possible. Kyuubi never used it because of the enormous cost, as Divine Magic needs a lot of units for its spells, add that to the ridiculous cost Kyuubi had to pay to make a single unit, and you realize why a _Bijuudama_ was quicker and more efficient in most cases that couldn't just be manually crushed.

Surprisingly, I have little to say right now, and there was no new species introduced either, time for the Q&A.

Q: The blue eyes that opened when Naruto unleashed his anger, were they Titania's?  
A: Yes.

Q: Does anyone amongst the light-races actually realize that their war ended ages ago?  
A: Most have just been entirely brainwashed, they after all have no idea how real wars against the dark races were like, and believe they're fighting the war their gods want them to, and win because their victory is the will of their gods. The few that know better just don't care. As for who might know better, look at the long-lived races. Elves and dwarves, amongst them there would be those who know, though very, VERY few dwarves reach the age they'd need to remember that.

Q: What happened to the sword that sealed the Nazgûl?  
A: Ironically enough, it is sheathed. The sheath is swinging at the Nazgûl's side. It's not like the blade is poisonous to the Nazgûl, as long as it doesn't ram the blade through it's head it is merely an excellently forged weapon.

Q: If Naruto has children, will they inherit his power?  
A: Well, they'll have an internal chakra/mana-pool, a large one, and improved healing from the Uzumaki. They'd also be able to use Demon Magic, and can learn both jutsu and magic. But they wouldn't be overpowered monsters, they'd basically be children with potential.

Q: Will anyone else from Naruto's world reach Gaia?  
A: I haven't even decided if I send Mordor to Naruto's world or not, so for now Naruto is the only one and unless he goes back to his world and drags someone else back to Gaia, he'll stay the only one. Should I change my mind I will let you know. But for the foreseeable future, Naruto will be the only one.

Q: How will Naruto get the races to Mordor without attracting attention?  
A: Well, for a while nobody is going to notice anything, because nobody would even take it into consideration. Once Naruto feels like things are getting too risky... well, he has plans.

Well, that's all for now,

Please Review


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